Further essays in monetary economic

In this sequel to Essays in Monetary Economics, Harry G. Johnson views domestic and international monetary issues as they have developed since 1967. Part 1, on domestic monetary economics, begins with

the most recent of Mr. Johnson's famous surveys of the literature and controversies of monetary economics, prepared in 1969 for the historic Hove Conference on The Radcliffe Report-Ten Years After. It con tinues with his Richard T. Ely Lecture to the American Economic Association in 1970 on "The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-revolution," which excited widespread interest outside economics through its publication in Encounter; his work on the problem of efficiency in monetary management, which contributed significantly to the decision of the Bank of England in 1971 to introduce radical changes in the methods of monetary control in the United Kingdom, designed to promote competition in the financial sector; and his continuing contributions to theoretical work on the role of money in the promotion of economic

growth. Part II, on international monetary economics, contains contributions to the theory of international economic policy in a world of Integrated capital markets; a survey of the theoretical problems of the International mone tary system; a restatement of the case for flexible exchange rates, making use of the new theory of o timum currency areas; an outline of the newly emerging of op "monetarist" approach to balance-of-payments theory:and a series of short studies of technical problems in international monetary theory.

Part III is devoted to the current international mone tary crisis, including its relation to the war in Vietnam and President's Nixon's new economic policy of August 15, 1971. The author sketches the background to the crisis, evaluates skeptically the hopes of the European economic communities to overcome the dominance of the dollar by establishing their own common currency, discusses contemporary world inflation as a world problem and not merely a collection of national prob lems, and concludes that the resolution of the 1971 international monetary crisis was too superficial to prevent further crises in the future.

These essays, like the previous volume, are distin guished by the author's expert grasp of analytical techniques and of the current policy problems of both domestic and International monetary economics. The nineteen selections are more than topical; they enable the reader to anticipate intelligently what is likely to happen and why. Students will find the essays instruc tive, and the general reader should find them illuminating and entertaining. Harry G. Johnson is Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics and Political Science.