Abstract
M.Com. (Economics)
The objective of the thesis was to examine the creation of a generally
acceptable international unit of account as a precondition for the establishment
of a more orderly international monetary system.
The payments problem over the national boundary has for centuries baffled
the brains and wits of the world's foremost economists, bankers and politicians.
The high level of abstraction of the international monetary phenomenon,
and the dynamics and geo-politics involved, tend to conceal the
essence of the variables at work. The evolution of the international monetary
system would thus seem to have trailed the evolution of the national
monetary systems by almost two centuries. As recently as the twenties of
this century the essence of the international monetary system was still
sought in gold, a commodity that could never accommodate the growing payments
needs of the world economy, especially at times when events such as
wars and technological innovation acted as powerful catalysts expediting
the course of events between nations.
The use of the key currencies, especially the British pound sterling and
the US-dollar, as instruments for international payment could not work for
any length of time ...