A Contemporary Concept of Monetary Sovereignty
Monetary sovereignty is a crucial legal concept dictating that states have sovereignty
over their own monetary, financial, and fiscal affairs. However, it does not feature as
part of any key instruments of international law, including the Articles of Agreement of
the International Monetary Fund. Rather, it has remained a somewhat separate notion,
developed under contemporary international law from an assertion of the former Permanent
Court of International Justice in 1929. As a consequence of globalization and increasing
financial integration and a worldwide trend towards the creation of economic and monetary
unions, the principle of monetary sovereignty has undergone significant change.
This book examines this evolution in detail, and provides a conceptual framework to
demonstrate what this means for the legal and economic challenges faced by the
international community. The book examines the historic origins and evolution of the
concept of monetary sovereignty, putting it into the context of broader concepts of
sovereignty. It argues that monetary sovereignty remains relevant as a dynamic legal
concept with both positive and normative components. It investigates the continuing
hybridization of international monetary law resulting from changes to its formal and
material sources. It then examines the complex phenomenon of exchange rate misalignment
under international monetary and trade law, and the increasing regionalization of monetary
sovereignty, notably in light of the European sovereign debt crisis. Finally, it assesses
the role the concept of monetary sovereignty can play in the reorganization of
international finance following the recent global financial crisis.
Introduction ;
1. A Revision of the International Law Concept of Monetary Sovereignty ;
2. The Increasing Hybridization of International Monetary Law ;
3. Exchange Rate Misalignment and International Law ;
4. The Increasing Regionalization of Monetary Sovereignty ;
5. The Reorganization of the International Financial Architecture in the Wake of the
Great Recession ;
Conclusion