Book dossier

Exchange rate chaos

by Charles R. Geisst

Exchange Rate Chaos: Twenty-five Years of Finance and Consumer Democracy provides a much needed financial history of the US and UK in the post-war period. The author describes and compares developments in the financial markets and institutions of the two countries since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971. A number of striking issues arise: the similarities between the two systems and the forces that have shaped them; the decline of the small investor and the supremacy of financial institutions; how the floating exchange rates can be manipulated by governments to their advantage; and potential threats to US and UK financial systems. In particular, the author examines the rise of the consumer democracy and its financial, political and social impact. This book is one of the first to look at financial developments in this period and to put them in their social and political context. As such, it will be a valuable guide for all those who are interested in the financial and economic history of the late twentieth century.