Historical record of Monetary Unions: lessons for the European Economic and Monetary Union

• Author: Tache, I.
• Position: Dept. of Marketing, Tourism and International Relations, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 161-170

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov • Vol. 6 (55) •No. 2 - 2013

Series V: Economic Sciences

HISTORICAL RECORD OF

MONETARY UNIONS: LESSONS FOR

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND

MONETARY UNION

Ileana TACHE

1

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to make a record of previous monetar y

unions and derive some useful lessons for the European Economic and

Monetary Union. Evaluating the political economy of the euro through the lens

of history, with the help of comparative analysis, can contribute to better

understa nding the present stage of the EMU and its challenges. Even if the EU

is a unique, sui generis, phenomenon, the ana lytical lessons lea rned from the

historical ca ses could be applied to the contemporar y situation of the euro.

Key words: European Economic and Monetar y Union, Gold Standard, USA

monetary union, monetar y unification of Italy, German Zollverein, Latin

Monetary Union, Scandinavian Monetar y Union.

1. Introduction

Even if euro still appears like a novelty in

the process of European construction and as

international currency, it was preceded by a

few monetary unions on the continent and

outside of it. While much of the European

monetary project has indeed been of an

ambition never seen in Europe before, the

idea of bringing currencies together is far

from new. The earlier examples offer

fascinating echoes of today’s experience in

the euro area.

This paper tries to investigate the context

of these previous arrangements, which did

not have a central monetary authority, yet

they functioned surprisingly well in the

economies of that time. The aim is to extract

the lessons that history teaches us and to

reveal some pitfalls that should be avoided.

1 Dept. of Marketing, Tourism and International Relations, Transilvania University of Braşov.

The study is built on the main contributions

of the literature in this field, such as Bordo

and Jonung (1999), Bergman (1999),

Foreman-Peck (2005), McNamara (2011)

or de Vanssay (1999).

The paper is organized as follows. The

next section is dedicated to the Gold

Standard, then the other monetary unions

are discussed: USA monetary union after

the Civil War, monetary unification of Italy,

the German Zollverein, the Latin Monetary

Union and the Scandinavian Monetary

Union. Each section contains comparisons

and parallels with the present European

Economic and Monetary Union. The last

section provides the final concluding

remarks.