Derrière les crises financières internationales : une crise de la monnaie internationale

Abstract

Today, more than ever, the international monetary system is front page news. Some fifty years ago, it was soon criticized because it was already - and would rapidly evolve as - a dollar-based system that allowed the US to run persistent external deficits without any concern for twhe rest of the world. This system, whereby the US currency became the international currency, provided the US with what was known as an "exorbitant privilege". The current situation has not changed. This paper analyzes, as J. Rueff had done, the process by which the dollar becomes an international currency. Statistical data to measure its importance is presented and the paper analyzes the principal characteristics of this system with its consequences on the US, as well as on the rest of the world.