Currency Politics is an ambitious book on an important topic. Frieden is one of the best political economists and one of the best scholars writing on this subject."—Sebastian Edwards, University of California, Los Angeles and author of Toxic Aid

The first chapters introduce basic policy choices for managing the monetary system: exchange rate regimes, either fixed, floating or pegged to another currency, and a currency’s price level. The choice of regime depends on competing demands for stability and flexibility, while the price level is held in tension between supporting price competitiveness for exporters and the purchasing power of consumers. While the fragility of exchange rate commitments has been known since the publication of a 1995 paper by Obstfeld and Rogoff, the question of why some central banks fix the value of their currencies and others do not is less well understood. Jeffry Frieden’s Currency Politics provides a thoughtful guide to the political economy of exchange rate policy. ... Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy. Jeffry A. Frieden. Princeton University Press. 2016. Regression analysis of voting data and proxy variables for political interests largely substantiate Frieden’s theories in the selected cases, particularly the preference of manufacturers and exporters for a flexible regime and lower price level. International financial intermediaries, who have historically lobbied for a more stable regime, contest these policy settings. There is also evidence that populist politicians may inflate the price level to boost the purchasing power of consumers, particularly in the Latin American context. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.In Currency Politics, Frieden not only draws together beautifully the strands of his previous work, but he advances a new and entirely persuasive explanation of the euro project as an essential bulwark against competitive devaluations. Above all, he argues convincingly for the centrality of exchange rate policy to domestic politics, international relations, and macroeconomics in open economies."—Ronald Rogowski, University of California, Los Angeles

Frieden undertakes careful examination of currency politics. . . . [M]eticulous [and] well-informed. . . . Recommended."— ChoiceJeffry A. Frieden, Currency Politics: The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Policy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015). A decade and a half later, they have a podcast. It’s called Political Currency, and it follows the stunningly successful format of The Rest Is Politics, where Blairite spin doctor Alastair Campbell and erstwhile Tory heavyweight Rory Stewart “disagree agreeably” about politics to millions of eager listeners. To distinguish themselves, Osborne and Balls are focusing specifically on economics (“currency” – get it?). Apparently they “have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics”. A look at how their careers ended – with Balls losing his seat in 2015 and Osborne’s ascendance cut short by the 2016 EU referendum – suggests this is up for debate.

The moment when you start to wonder what money is feels like pitching through a trapdoor into the void. This book is a marvelous aid to stabilizing that awful sense of cognitive vertigo. By examining several periods in the history of money, and showing how it has been used in each period to constitute power and the state, Eich brings us to the present with a much clearer sense of where we are, how we got here, and how we might seize money itself and use it as a creative political force for good.”—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. If you are interested in this review, you may also like to listen to a podcast of Professor Frieden’s LSE public lecture, ‘Lessons for the Euro from America’s Past’, recorded on 19 January 2016. The Currency of Politics breaks the frame we use to understand money. More than an instrument or an institution, currency becomes a nerve center of political theory. Deeply in dialogue with the past, Stefan Eich compels us forward to conceptualize money as a medium for democratic agency—or its loss. A tour de force.”—Christine Desan, author of Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism

A very good book. . . . Eich takes us on a fascinating journey."—Paul Sagar, Perspectives on Politics

Eich’s extraordinary book provides an essential guide to thinking about the politics of money."— Adam Tooze

Eich’s work is sure to be a landmark in political science. His argument is bold and ambitious; his writing clear and engaging; and his message timely, persuasive and imperative."—Erik Jones, Survival Eich’s book is ultimately a call to revive democratic debate about money…this excellent book…does not tell us what to do, but he does show us something can be done."—Geoff Mann, New Statesman Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?