Pod znakiem reglamentacji dewizowej. Europejski system walutowy w latach trzydziestych

Abstract

The article explores the coherence of monetary systems in Europe after the Great Depression. It shows that while exchange rates remained more stable than in early 1930s, this was neither the result of international arrangements (the tripartite agreement notwithstanding) nor of well executed monetary policies on the state level, but rather a consequence of the division of the world into blocs, and increased isolation of many states from the world market through exchange control. With international trade increasingly conducted via bilateral clearing agreements, in some countries local currencies became independent of each other via the lack of the mediating effect of prices and specie flows. At the same time, the power of transnational institutions (such as the Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations or the Bank for International Settlements) was too small to meaningfully impact these arrangements.