Friday

29th Mar 2024

'Father of the euro' calls for global currency

Robert Mundell, a nobel-prize winning economist, often credited with paving the way to the European single currency, has called for a global currency.

In an interview with French paper Libération, Mr Mundell said, "with the emergence of the euro and its instability against the dollar, Europe, the US and the Asian powers should come together and create a new international monetary system".

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However, this would not mean the end of the euro and the dollar. Mr Mundell continues, "Of course, one would keep the dollar and the euro. This international currency would be used in the large international exchanges, for movements of capital and commercial transactions".

Mr Mundell's views - although controversial - should not be discounted. He laid the intellectual groundwork for the euro and was a leading member of the 1972 study group on economic and monetary union, which paved the way for the single currency.

This is not the first time the idea has been proposed, however. In the 1944 conference at Bretton Woods, which resulted in the establishment of international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), several countries proposed a global currency.

Mr Mundell said, "I think we should again consider this scenario".

The year 2003 did indeed see some large fluctuations on the foreign exchange markets, with the euro hitting record highs against the dollar.

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