The Fragility of Two Monetary Regimes: The European Monetary System and the Eurozone
分析了欧洲货币体系与欧元区在脆弱性上的异同，指出前者源于外汇市场缺乏可信的最后贷款人，后者则因长期政府债券市场缺少最后贷款人。
Abstract We analyse the similarities and the differences in the fragility of the European Monetary System (EMS) and the Eurozone. We test the hypothesis that in the EMS, the fragility arose from the absence of a credible lender of last resort in the foreign exchange markets; whereas in the Eurozone, it was the absence of a lender of last resort in the long‐term government bond markets that caused the fragility. We conclude that in the EMS, the national central banks were weak and fragile, and the national governments were insulated from this weakness by the fact that they kept their own national currencies. In the Eurozone, the roles were reversed. The national central banks that became part of the Eurosystem were strengthened. This came at a huge price, that is, the fragilization of the national governments that could be brought down by the whims of fear and frenzy in financial markets. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.