William Frazer – författare

This work deals with the economic systems of the two monetary revolutionaries of this century. They reacted against orthodoxy in different ways, with Friedman redirecting and reinforcing Keynes' major contributions. Friedman used the system of testing one hypothesis against another rather than using a naive model. He provided analytical, political, and ideological positions that yield an all-encompassing analytical system.

This work is a study of the Keynes and Friedman approaches to the institutions which implement monetary and other related policies. The policy of the United States is reviewed, in part, because of the U.S.'s rather central role in developments since World War I. The exchange-rate, reserve, and capital-flow mechanisms of the central banks are discussed from an historical perspective. The major interconnections between money, credit-creating potential of central banks, and fiscal/deficit potential of government are emphasized. The principal central banks considered are the Bank of England, Federal Reserve, and Bundesbank.

This elaboration of the writings and statements of Milton Friedman is intended to create an economic system that moves the subject along theory-, fact-, and policy-oriented lines. Items directly attributable to Friedman are used in combination with an awareness of the unique breadth of his experience connected to statistical matters, and his work with Wesley C. Mitchell and others. In addition, some of the author's experiences dating back to the 1950s are used to reconstruct theory and bring in some topics Friedman did not consider.

Bridging a gap between economic theory and observed reality, this book examines the most visible central banks, the move to monetary union in Europe, the IMF's new role, the rise of managed market economies, and the elevated importance of central banks. In central banking, attention has often turned to the management of liquidity crises and the attainment of economic stability. In the global economy, the respective market economies are more interconnected, and information regarding crises in one part of the industrialized world is rapidly communicated to other nations, giving the crises themselves a more immediate impact. The Asian debt and liquidity crises of 1997-98 were seen as having an impact on the United States, the European Union countries, and even China. In the effort to attain international stability, the information emanating from central banks at a policy level is crucial. This book aims to depict an ideal central bank for a globally connected country.Two developments heighten the need for such an operations/policy-based ideal: the lessons learned from the European moves to monetary union and the establishment of the European Central Bank, and the increased awareness of banking problems in Asia during the 1997-98 debt and liquidity crises. This timely work will be of interest to economists, bank officials, government policy makers and political scientists.