Towards an Integrative Currency Area

• Authors: Mieczysław Dobija

Title variants

PL

Teoretyczne podstawy integracyjnego obszaru walutowego

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Optimal currency area theory is the supporting knowledge base of the European euro area. However, the euro area does not work seamlessly, and many doubts have arisen in regard to the theoretical foundations of the project and the procedures used to implement it. In particular, the accession of new members remains doubtful. This paper develops a diagnosis and proposes modifications to the theoretical foundations of the optimal currency area in line with recent developments in economic thinking. This progress is focused on the application of a triad of abstract notions – capital, labour, and money – and the use of essential notions, among which labour self- financing is the most significant. The analysis leads to an integrative as opposed to a discriminative currency area. Another aim of this paper is to show how to reshape the existing discriminative euro area as an area involving states that do not fulfill the Maastricht criteria. An integrative area can involve states with different productivity levels, allowing the fixed exchange rate criterion to be withdrawn. In addition, the application of self-financing removes the problem of dominant public debt. A major part of this paper develops a measure of labour productivity and applies it to procedures involving the use of exchange rates.

PL

Teoria optymalnego obszaru walutowego stanowi teoretyczną podstawę strefy euro. Jednakże ta strefa walutowa nie działa sprawnie. Pojawia się wiele wątpliwości dotyczących jej teoretycznych podstaw i procedur implementacyjnych, w szczególności w odniesieniu do akcesji nowych państw o niższej produktywności pracy. W artykule przedstawiono teoretyczną diagnozę i odpowiednie modyfikacje teorii optymalnej strefy walutowej na podstawie głębszego rozeznania natury kapitału i kursu walutowego. Istota zmian ogniskuje się na triadzie abstrakcyjnych pojęć kapitał – praca – pieniądze, co prowadzi do uznania, że praca sama się finansuje. W takiej perspektywie strefa walutowa staje się integrująca i może nawet jednoczyć kraje, które nie spełniają kryteriów z Maastricht. Do tej strefy mogą przystępować kraje o różnym poziomie produktywności pracy pod warunkiem stałego jej zwiększania. Problem deficytu budżetowego i długu publicznego zostaje rozwiązany przez zastosowanie samofinansowania pracy w sektorze publicznym. Wiele miejsca w artykule poświęcono miernikowi produktywności pracy i jego parytetowi, jako determinancie trendu kursu walutowego.

Keywords

EN

currency area; labour productivity; labour share; exchange rate

PL

obszar walutowy; produktywność pracy; udział pracy w PKB; kurs walutowy

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie
• Journal: Argumenta Oeconomica Cracoviensia
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 9-31

Contributors

author

Mieczysław Dobija

• Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie, Katedra Rachunkowości, ul. Rakowicka 27, 51-510 Kraków, Poland

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Identifiers

DOI

10.15678/AOC.2015.1301