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Societies for the History of Economics

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Societies for the History of Economics <[log in to unmask]>
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"Peter G. Stillman" <[log in to unmask]>
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Sun, 3 Jun 2012 23:55:35 -0400
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I am writing as a non-economist.

I am wondering, amidst all the problems the Euro is currently having, 
about historical and comparative and theoretical treatments of 
similar currency/integration problems, because I have seen none, 
except for what can be gleaned from *The Economist*.

What interests me, for instance, is that people talk of how different 
the Greek political economy is from the German and how therefore they 
cannot exist together with the same currency without great strains 
.... perhaps so great that the Greeks should leave, or the Euro will 
fall apart.

But -- and here is where I am really clearly a non-economist, sorry 
-- when I look at the US, now or in 1787 or 1890, I see a country as 
diverse as Europe economically, but maintaining a single currency. 
Why the difference?

Or, when nascent states were introducing single currencies (the 
English pound into Scotland and Ireland, the German mark throughout 
the newly consolidated Empire in the latter half of the 19th 
century), were there similar concerns about the single currency?

How would various economic theorists treat these 
historical/comparative issues?  Are there any economic theoretical 
treatments about bringing together disparate economies into one unit? 
(sorry, again, my ignorance)

As a political theorist, I'd be inclined to think that political 
power played a role, at least in my above examples:  the silver 
battles of the populist times were the equivalent of the Greeks, the 
losers in the unified economic organization, trying to change the 
rules; but the powerful East Coast financial interests would not let 
them.  I'd suspect the same was true about the English pound in 
Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (pre-1923).

But I would like to get some good, history of economy theory answers. 
Can you help.

Thanks, Peter





-- 
Peter G. Stillman
Department of Political Science
Vassar College (#463)
124 Raymond Avenue
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0463

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http://faculty.vassar.edu/stillman/
http://petergstillman.wordpress.com/about/

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