Power and Imbalances in the Global Monetary System

The author examines the indirect macroeconomic roots of the global financial crisis and Eurozone debt crisis: the escalation of global trade imbalances between the US and China and regional trade imbalances in the Eurozone. He provides new insights into the sources and dynamics of power and instability in the contemporary global monetary system

'Vermeiren's creative analysis calls attention to the domestic institutional sources of international economic imbalances involving US, China and the Eurozone. His book shows very effectively why international monetary specialists and scholars of comparative capitalism should talk to each other much more extensively.' Eric Helleiner, University of Waterloo, Canada

'Vermeiren's wide-ranging study impressively combines comparative and international political economy. It gives important insights into the issue of monetary power, not only for the United States, but also for the Eurozone and China. The conclusions are pessimistic for the global economy, and they are conclusions firmly grounded in an in-depth analysis. Scholars of IPE and CPE should take note." Iain Hardie, The University of Edinburgh, UK

'Mattias Vermeiren's Power and Imbalances in the Global Monetary System is a highly important contribution to our understanding of the structural causes of the recent economic crises. Particularly impressive is his combination of international political economy thinking on monetary power with comparative political economy concepts of national capitalist institutions. This combination of IPE and CPE should help us to overcome the unproductive split between international and comparative perspectives and will hopefully inspire future studies on many other issues of the global political economy.' Andreas Nölke, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany

Autorentext

Mattias Vermeiren is a Researcher in International Political Economy at the Ghent Institute of International Studies, Ghent University, Belgium. His research focuses on the political economy of international monetary relations and has been published in journals such as the Review of International Studies, New Political Economy, Journal of International Relations and Development and International Politics.

Inhalt

0. Introduction Power and imbalances in the global monetary system The political economy of global monetary instability: Literature review A comparative capitalism perspective on international monetary power Scope and structure of the book 1. International monetary power: A comparative capitalism perspective Introduction The political economy of international monetary power International monetary power: concepts and definitions 2. The global imbalances and the instability of US monetary hegemony Introduction The domestic purpose of US monetary power US monetary power, finance-led growth and global imbalances Conclusion 3. Rising imbalances and monetary power in the Eurozone Introduction The domestic purpose of European monetary power Diverging growth regimes and monetary power in the Eurozone Conclusion 4. Reserve accumulation and the entrapment of Chinese monetary power Introduction The domestic purpose of Chinese monetary power Investment-led growth and the entrapment of Chinese monetary power Conclusion 5. International monetary power and global macroeconomic adjustment Introduction Macroeconomic adjustment and US monetary power after the crisis Macroeconomic adjustment and European monetary power after the cri-sis Macroeconomic adjustment and Chinese monetary power after the crisis Conclusion 6. Conclusion Power and imbalances in the global monetary system A comparative capitalism perspective: Overview of main arguments The future of the global monetary system