With the loss of Soviet control in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the move toward economic liberalization in many developing countries, a huge increase in the number of convertible currencies in the world has occurred. A key aspect of the management of these currencies involves their relationships with the world economy, which is determined partly by the type of exchange rate regime.

On the one hand, a fixed exchange rate requires that a country be willing to give up its domestic macroeconomic independence. On the other, a flexible exchange rate may carry substantial costs in terms of inflation. Contributors to this volume argue that the costs and benefits of fixed versus flexible rates vary systematically across different types of economies. Currency-board fixed exchange rate systems have definite attractions for relatively small open economies but make much less sense for large economies.

They also conclude that attempts to avoid the basic choice between fixed and flexible rates by adopting temporarily pegged exchange rates have generally ended in failure.