Abstract
Economic policy autonomy of the countries comprising the international monetary system (IMS) was a central concern in Keynes´ proposals on the Bretton Woods Agreements and is still the object of research in the field of international economy. In this paper, an analysis is carried out between autonomy of political economy and one of the central elements of the IMS, i.e., the key currency. More specifically, it sought to analyze two elements related to the key currency, the elasticity of the system and the international liquidity. It is argued here that in a more elastic system and one in which the international liquidity is not restricted, it would be possible to reduce the asymmetry between peripheral and central countries. In order to achieve such a goal, it is necessary that such variables (elasticity and liquidity) remain under the management of policy makers. Moreover, possible political implications originating from systems in which countries have higher or lower autonomy were analyzed.
Keywords:
International Monetary System; Key currency; Economic policy autonomy; International liquidity; Hierarchy of currencies