Monnaie, citoyenneté et globalisation financière. Les citoyens entre protection sociale et promesses de la capitalisation boursière

La monnaie a été étudiée par des économistes hétérodoxes, des sociologues et des historiens qui ont souligné ses rapports à l'ordre collectif, mais elle n'est que rarement analysée sous l'angle de la citoyenneté. Notre thèse propose une réflexion théorique sur quatre types de fonctions (politique, symbolique, socioéconomique et psychoaffective) qui permettent à la monnaie de jouer un rôle de médiation de la citoyenneté. A partir d'une perspective qui combine les apports de l'économie politique internationale et de l'école de la régulation, nous montrons que cette médiation ne mobilise pas seulement des mécanismes sociopolitiques nationaux, mais aussi des mécanismes internationaux qui rétroagissent sur la sphère domestique des États et affectent leur capacité à définir leur régime de citoyenneté. Cette relation est analysée dans le contexte de l'institutionnalisation du système monétaire international de Bretton Woods (1944) et du développement de la globalisation financière depuis les années 1970. Si la monnaie a été mise au service d'un principe de protection des droits sociaux des citoyens contre les pressions financières extérieures après la Seconde guerre mondiale, elle contribue aujourd'hui à l'ouverture de la sphère domestique des Etats aux flux de capitaux transnationaux et à la création d'un ordre politique et juridique favorable aux droits des investisseurs. Cette dynamique est impulsée par l'essor de nouveaux intermédiaires financiers (notamment les agences de notation et les investisseurs institutionnels) et l'émergence concomitante d'une nouvelle forme d'Etat légitimée à partir d'un discours politique néolibéral insistant sur la quête de compétitivité, la réduction de la protection sociale et la responsabilisation individuelle. Elle se traduit par la privatisation des régimes de retraite et le développement des politiques d'éducation financière qui incitent les citoyens à se comporter en « preneurs de risques » actifs et responsables, assurant eux-mêmes leur sécurité économique à travers le placement de leur épargne retraite sur les marchés financiers. Nous soulignons toutefois les difficultés institutionnelles, cognitives et socioéconomiques qui rendent cette transformation de la citoyenneté contradictoire et problématique. Money has been studied by heterodox economists, sociologists and historians who stressed its relationship to collective order. However, it has hardly been analysed from the viewpoint of its relationship to citizenship. We propose a theoretical account of four types of functions (political, symbolic, socioeconomic and psychoaffective) enabling money to operate as a mediation of citizenship. From a perspective that combines the contributions of international political economy and the regulation school, we show that this mediation mobilises not only national sociopolitical mechanisms, but also international mechanisms which feed back on the domestic sphere of states and affect their capacity to define their regime of citizenship. This relationship is analysed in the context of the institutionalisation of the international monetary system of Bretton Woods (1944) and the development of financial globalization since the 1970s. If money has served to protect the social rights of citizens against external financial pressures after the Second World War, today it contributes to the opening of the domestic sphere of states to transnational capital flows and to the creation of a political and legal order favorable to the rights of investors. This dynamic is driven by the rise of new financial intermediaries (in particular rating agencies and institutional investisors) and the simultaneous emergence of a new form of state legitimized from a neoliberal political discourse emphasizing the quest for competitiveness, reduced social protection and individual responsibilization. It results in the privatization of pension systems and the development of policies of financial education that encourage citizens to behave as active and responsible « risk takers », ensuring their own economic security through the investment of their savings retirement on financial markets. However, we emphasize the institutional, cognitive and socioeconomic difficulties that make this transformation of citizenship contradictory and problematic. - Money has been studied by heterodox economists, sociologists and historians who stressed its relationship to collective order. However, it has hardly been analysed from the viewpoint of its relationship to citizenship. We propose a theoretical account of four types of functions (political, symbolic, socioeconomic and psychoaffective) enabling money to operate as a mediation of citizenship. From a perspective that combines the contributions of international political economy and the regulation school, we show that this mediation mobilises not only national sociopolitical mechanisms, but also international mechanisms which feed back on the domestic sphere of states and affect their capacity to define their regime of citizenship. This relationship is analysed in the context of the institutionalisation of the international monetary system of Bretton Woods (1944) and the development of financial globalization since the 1970s. If money has served to protect the social rights of citizens against external financial pressures after the Second World War, today it contributes to the opening of the domestic sphere of states to transnational capital flows and to the creation of a political and legal order favorable to the rights of investors. This dynamic is driven by the rise of new financial intermediaries (in particular rating agencies and institutional investisors) and the simultaneous emergence of a new form of state legitimized from a neoliberal political discourse emphasizing the quest for competitiveness, reduced social protection and individual responsibilization. It results in the privatization of pension systems and the development of policies of financial education that encourage citizens to behave as active and responsible « risk takers », ensuring their own economic security through the investment of their savings retirement on financial markets. However, we emphasize the institutional, cognitive and socioeconomic difficulties that make this transformation of citizenship problematic.

Comercio y variabilidad del tipo de cambio: Evidencia para los países de la Unión Europea

Uno de los temas centrales en el debate sobre las ventajas y desventajas de la unión económica y monetaria, y sobre el que no existe consenso en la literatura, es si la variabilidad del tipo de cambio tiene efectos negativos sobre el comercio. Así pues, el objetivo de este trabajo no consiste únicamente en analizar si existe una relación negativa entre ambas variables para los países europeos en el período 1973-1998 sino también en tratar de explicar porqué los trabajos previos han obtenido resultados tan distintos a partir de la consideración de la inestabilidad temporal de la relación.

O dólar e os desequilíbrios globais

The global expansion of capitalism under American hegemony in the second half of the 20th century has changed the international division of labor and center-periphery scheme proposed under British hegemony. Under the new international division of labor, the United States is forced to generate an ever growing deficit in their trade account in order to accommodate the "mercantilist' expansion of Asian countries, produced by the trans-nationalization of big capital, under American aegis. This form of global economic articulation is at the root of the rupture of the Bretton Woods system and the growing financial liberalization imposed by the hegemonic power over other countries since the 80s.

Estratégias periféricas sessenta anos depois do acordo de Bretton Woods

After sixty years, the Bretton Woods Agreement continuous to be a reference for the debates concerning institutional organization of the international monetary system. This paper compares some features of the arrangements that have emerged in that context with the recent wave of institutional reforms in the international financial architecture. We explore some arguments suggesting that, in an instable financial environment, is possible to envisage a strong rationality in strategies for emerging economies associated with a more active capital flows and exchange rate management. Apparently, those strategies are not dissimilar to the ones today's advanced countries had used in Bretton Woods Era.

The Myth of Demonetarization of Gold

The aim of this paper is to discuss the crisis of the international financial system and the necessity of reforming it by new anchor or benchmark for the international currency, a money-commodity. The need for understanding the definition of a numéraire is a first necessity. Although most economists reject any connection between money and a particular commodity (gold) – because of the existence of legal tender money in every country – it will be shown that it is equivalent to reduce the real space to an abstract number (usually assumed 1) in order to postulate that money is neutral. This is sheer nonsense. It will also be shown that the concept of fiat money or state money does not preclude the existence of commodity money. This paper is divided in four sections. The first section analyses the definition and meaning of a numéraire for the international currency and the justification for a variable standard of value. In the second section, the market value of the US dollar is analysed by looking at new forms of value -the derivative products- the dollar as a safe haven, and the role of SDRs in reforming the international monetary system. In the third and fourth sections, empirical evidence concerning the most recent period of the financial crisis is presented and an econometric model is specified to fit those data. After estimating many different specifications of the model –linear stepwise regression, simultaneous regression with GMM estimator, error correction model- the main econometric result is that there is a one to one correspondence between the price of gold and the value of the US dollar. Indeed, the variance of the price of gold is mainly explained by the Euro exchange rate defined with respect to the US dollar, the inflation rate and negatively influenced by the Dow Jones index and the interest rate.

La géographie du dollar et la Chine : analyse géoéconomique d'une sédition monétaire

L’équilibre économique mondial repose sur une asymétrie structurelle dont les pôles antagonistes principaux sont les États-Unis et l’Asie orientale. À la base de cet axe de tension géographique se trouve la question de la représentation mondiale de la richesse. La domination du dollar permet aux États-Unis un accès disproportionné aux ressources planétaires. Les pays créanciers, dont fait partie la Chine, hésitent à laisser flotter leur monnaie et attaquer l’hégémonie du dollar. Entre temps, les déséquilibres s’intensifient, tout comme les tensions politiques, par l’effet de ce système monétaire qui participe au maintien d’un monde unipolaire. Le système monétaire actuel n’offre aucune perspective endogène quant à la résolution des déséquilibres que son équilibre requiert. Ce mémoire cherche à identifier les stratégies géoéconomiques de la Chine pour se soustraire de l’emprise du dollar.

Historia de la cooperación monetaria y financiera internacional y su importancia en el desarrollo del mercado financiero internacional (Tema Central)

La historia de la cooperación monetaria y financiera internacional da cuenta de la forma en que el sistema monetario influyó en el mercado financiero internacional. En las páginas que siguen se podrá observar cómo los países intentaron su equilibrio interno y externo, a través de sus diversos mecanismos monetarios internacionales. El período patrón oro (1870-1914), merece atención, porque las tentativas subsiguientes de reformar el sistema monetario internacional, sobre la base de tipos de cambio fijos, se la construyó sobre la fortaleza del patrón oro. Los años de entreguerras (1918-1939) fueron marcados por la tendencia en la impresión desbocada de billetes, lo que trajo altos niveles de inflación. El Acuerdo Bretton Woods (1945-1973), que crea el Fondo Monetario Internacional, fue el resultado de la enorme preocupación de los gobiernos de cuarenta y cuatro países, por los acontecimientos económicos desastrosos en el período de entreguerras.

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2010-2011: The region in the decade of the emerging economies

Incluye Bibliografía

The external financing and indebtedness of Latin America and proposals for action

Includes bibliography

World inflation and foreign debt: the case of the improper deflator

Includes bibliography

Oil-exporting countries' investment portfolio: diversification toward Latin America

Includes bibliography

Financial openness and the adjustment process

Includes bibliography

Alternative opening up strategies: a simulation model

Includes bibliography

Trade and financial liberalization in the context of external shocks and inconsistent domestic policies

Includes bibliography

Recent Southern Cone liberalization reforms and stabilization policies: the Chilean case, 1974-1982

Includes bibliography