Swiss Monetary History since the Early 19th Century Studies in Macroeconomic History Series

This book describes the remarkable path which led to the Swiss Franc becoming the strong international currency that it is today. Ernst Baltensperger and Peter Kugler use Swiss monetary history to provide valuable insights into a number of issues concerning the organization and development of monetary institutions and currency that shaped the structure of financial markets and affected the economic course of a country in important ways. They investigate a number of topics, including the functioning of a world without a central bank, the role of competition and monopoly in money and banking, the functioning of monetary unions, monetary policy of small open economies under fixed and flexible exchange rates, the stability of money demand and supply under different monetary regimes, and the monetary and macroeconomic effects of Swiss Banking and Finance. Swiss Monetary History since the Early 19th Century illustrates the value of monetary history for understanding financial markets and macroeconomics today.

Introduction; Part I. Political and Economic Development of Switzerland: 1. The Swiss political system and general economic development since the formation of the Federal State (1848); Part II. A Chronological Review of Swiss Monetary History in the 19th and 20th Century: 2. Creation of a national currency (1848–1881); 3. The long road to a Swiss central bank (1881–1914); 4. World War I and the postwar period (1914–1929); 5. From the Great Depression to World War II (1929–1945); 6. Switzerland under the system of Bretton Woods (1945–1973); 7. The era of flexible exchange rates (1973–present); Part III. Key Questions and General Insights from Swiss Monetary Experience: 8. The Swiss experience with currency and note issue competition 1825–1905; 9. Swiss money demand and supply 1851–2010; 10. The Swiss interest island 1837–1970; 11. The Swiss Franc at the foreign exchange market 1850–2010; 12. Monetary and macroeconomic effects of Swiss banking and finance 1890–2010; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Ernst Baltensperger is Professor Emeritus of macroeconomics at Universität Bern, Switzerland and former director of the study center Gerzensee of the Swiss National Bank. He studied economics at Universität Zürich and received his Ph.D. in economics from The Johns Hopkins University. He was an advisor to the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Government, and served as an editor of several academic journals.
Peter Kugler is Professor Emeritus of monetary economics at Universität Basel, Switzerland. He has held previous positions as Professor of statistics at Universität Basel, Switzerland, of econometrics at Universität Bern, Switzerland and economics at Universität Wien, Austria. He served as member of the scientific advisory board of the Deutsche Bundesbank and was external advisor to the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Government.