Global Monetary and Economic Convergence

Book excerpt: Published in 1998. Global convergence has many aspects. The first part of this volume deals with European convergence, the second with convergence especially between Eastern and Western Europe. The third part with practical and the fourth with theoretical issues related to Global Convergence. The last part juxtaposes Hayekian and Triffian economic thought. The first of these, the Hayekian relies exclusively on the profit motive of the only arbiter of the economic decision-making. The Triffians thought insists that satisfactory balances can be brought about only through racial negotiation among market participants within countries and on a global scale. The Hayek-Triffin juxtaposition gains particular importance at a time when capital mobility, labour and social mobility have reached hitherto new levels on a global scale and this challenges social coherence. This difference will put social coherence under unusual stress. The solution of the problems created will be the greatest challenge to economic, social and political statemanship during the 21st century.