The Currency of Politics: The Political Theory of Money from Aristotle to Keynes

Product Information

It’s been a wild week in Westminster and it’s starting to look like the Tories are losing their grip. Ed and George chew over the Supreme Court’s judgment on Rwanda and what it means for Sunak. Could his new Foreign Secretary slam the brakes on some Tories’ hopes to leave the ECHR? The field of currency policy is increasingly important as the global economy becomes ever more integrated; however, it is poorly understood by the general public and often forgotten until a crisis arises. The influence of contingent political factors on the ability of governments to change their monetary policy is shown to be profound. Frieden makes his research accessible to a broader audience through Currency Politics; it is a challenging read in parts, but worth the effort to understand how national politics shape currency policy and the possible future of international currency regimes. Currency Politics: The Eurozone Crisis and the World's Financial Future,” the Alice Gorlin Memorial Lecture, Oakland University, April 8, 2015. [If your Flash plugins are not up to date, there is a lower res. version available here.] In Currency Politics, Frieden not only draws together beautifully the strands of his previous work, but he advances a new and entirely persuasive explanation of the euro project as an essential bulwark against competitive devaluations. Above all, he argues convincingly for the centrality of exchange rate policy to domestic politics, international relations, and macroeconomics in open economies."—Ronald Rogowski, University of California, Los Angeles Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy. Jeffry A. Frieden. Princeton University Press. 2016.

A very good book. . . . Eich takes us on a fascinating journey."—Paul Sagar, Perspectives on Politics A decade and a half later, they have a podcast. It’s called Political Currency, and it follows the stunningly successful format of The Rest Is Politics, where Blairite spin doctor Alastair Campbell and erstwhile Tory heavyweight Rory Stewart “disagree agreeably” about politics to millions of eager listeners. To distinguish themselves, Osborne and Balls are focusing specifically on economics (“currency” – get it?). Apparently they “have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics”. A look at how their careers ended – with Balls losing his seat in 2015 and Osborne’s ascendance cut short by the 2016 EU referendum – suggests this is up for debate. A deep ex­amination of the theoretical and political foundations of money that rescues the money discus­sion from economists."—Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Open Magazine In the use of case studies and the inclusion of historical and contextual factors, Currency Politics introduces a meaningful narrative to the analysis. Pure economic analysis is typically deterministic and struggles to account for contingent factors. By considering social, institutional and historical aspects, the text succeeds in treating the economy for what it really is: a complex and interdependent phenomenon. Eich’s contribution demarcates a new space for political thought on money, and brings together key theorists on the structuration of money both to show that political thought often has a direct effect on the type of monetary system that is maintained, and to show that democratic agency vis-a-vis money is often wilfully ignored."—Dominic Burbidge, Politics and PoeticsThe book is readable for both economists and political scientists. I recommend Currency Politics to both sets of scholars. Economists will learn about the political aspects of exchange-regime choice and political scientists about the economic aspects. ---Lawrence H. Officer, EH.Net

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. While the fragility of exchange rate commitments has been known since the publication of a 1995 paper by Obstfeld and Rogoff, the question of why some central banks fix the value of their currencies and others do not is less well understood. Jeffry Frieden’s Currency Politics provides a thoughtful guide to the political economy of exchange rate policy. ...

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. In Currency Politics, Frieden not only draws together beautifully the strands of his previous work, but he advances a new and entirely persuasive explanation of the euro project as an essential bulwark against competitive devaluations. Above all, he argues convincingly for the centrality of exchange rate policy to domestic politics, international relations, and macroeconomics in open economies." —Ronald Rogowski, University of California, Los Angeles Meanwhile, Keir Starmer faced a huge rebellion of his MPs over the SNP’s ceasefire amendment. Ed explains why this isn’t as big a threat to the Labour leader as it first appears... Note: This review gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics.

Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial? In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, critical attention has shifted from the economy to the most fundamental feature of all market economies—money. Yet despite the centrality of political struggles over money, it remains difficult to articulate its democratic possibilities and limits. The Currency of Politicstakes readers from ancient Greece to today to provide an intellectual history of money, drawing on the insights of key political philosophers to show how money is not just a medium of exchange but also a central institution of political rule. Jeffry A. Frieden, Professor of Government at Harvard University, has written a fine book on the determinants of decision-making regarding exchange-rate regime and, to some extent, exchange-rate level within the selected regime. The book is readable for both economists and political scientists. I recommend Currency Politics to both sets of scholars. Economists will learn about the political aspects of exchange-regime choice and political scientists about the economic aspects." -- Lawrence Officer, EH.net. The Currency of Politics breaks the frame we use to understand money. More than an instrument or an institution, currency becomes a nerve center of political theory. Deeply in dialogue with the past, Stefan Eich compels us forward to conceptualize money as a medium for democratic agency—or its loss. A tour de force.”—Christine Desan, author of Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of CapitalismThe moment when you start to wonder what money is feels like pitching through a trapdoor into the void. This book is a marvelous aid to stabilizing that awful sense of cognitive vertigo. By examining several periods in the history of money, and showing how it has been used in each period to constitute power and the state, Eich brings us to the present with a much clearer sense of where we are, how we got here, and how we might seize money itself and use it as a creative political force for good.”—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future With deftness, elegance, and intellectual verve, Eich paints a vivid and compelling picture of the whole history of political and economic thought as revealed through an interrogation of money. It is clear that this insightful book announces a new and important voice in the field.”—David Singh Grewal, author of Network Power The appeal of this text to economists and political scientists alike is obvious; however, it also explains monetary economics with such clarity that it is unusually accessible – at least for the field of economics – to a more general audience. Think of it as occupying the middle ground between pop economics titles, like Freakonomics, and more formidable volumes, such as Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Eich’s work is sure to be a landmark in political science. His argument is bold and ambitious; his writing clear and engaging; and his message timely, persuasive and imperative."—Erik Jones, Survival

Currency Politics is an ambitious book on an important topic. Frieden is one of the best political economists and one of the best scholars writing on this subject." —Sebastian Edwards, University of California, Los Angeles and author of Toxic Aid Eich’s book is ultimately a call to revive democratic debate about money…this excellent book…does not tell us what to do, but he does show us something can be done."—Geoff Mann, New Statesman The book is readable for both economists and political scientists. I recommend Currency Politics to both sets of scholars. Economists will learn about the political aspects of exchange-regime choice and political scientists about the economic aspects."—Lawrence H. Officer, EH.Net Frieden undertakes careful examination of currency politics. . . . [M]eticulous [and] well-informed. . . . Recommended."— Choice

An intellectual history of money that theoretically grounds the works of others working on democratizing money. The Currency of Politics is a great addition to the philosophy of money."—Valerie Schreur, Oeconomia Jeffry A. Frieden, Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015). A fresh and splendidly clear guide to the intellectual history of monetary policy. . . . The Currency of Politics is an invaluable guide to why — and how to think about what comes next."—Felix Martin, Financial Times Regression analysis of voting data and proxy variables for political interests largely substantiate Frieden’s theories in the selected cases, particularly the preference of manufacturers and exporters for a flexible regime and lower price level. International financial intermediaries, who have historically lobbied for a more stable regime, contest these policy settings. There is also evidence that populist politicians may inflate the price level to boost the purchasing power of consumers, particularly in the Latin American context. Even though written clearly, this book is a challenging read; it surprises readers with sudden enlightenment on profound concepts like the impossible trinity, substitution and income effects of currency, the Mundell-Fleming-Dornush Framework, the Dornush overshooting model, and the optimum currency area theory, among others. As the author relates these concepts to historical events, the reader is compelled to continue reading the book until its conclusion."—Shishir Shakya, Review of Regional Studies