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Chapter 10 The European Union: Search for Options

The United States of Europe: European Union and the Euro Revolution, Revised Edition

ISBN: 978-1-78052-314-9, eISBN: 978-1-78052-315-6

Publication date: 7 December 2011

Abstract

In the post-WWII decades, the United States, with its overwhelmingly large shares of the world GDP and world trade, became the Group of 1 to attend to the needs of the rest of the free world. The United States offered the military protection inclusive of the nuclear umbrella to the noncommunist countries, and provided aid and financial support for the economic reconstruction of the world destroyed by WWII. The US dollar, with its fixed gold value, became the foundation of stability and growth for the free market economies in the world. The United States could not deliver what were demanded of it indefinitely, as emphasized by Professor Kindleberger. Under the historical circumstances, the fixed gold value of the US dollar came to an end on August 17, 1971 (see Chapter 1).

Citation

Dutta, M. (2011), "Chapter 10 The European Union: Search for Options", Dutta, M. (Ed.) The United States of Europe: European Union and the Euro Revolution, Revised Edition (Contributions to Economic Analysis, Vol. 292), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 243-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0573-8555(2011)0000292017

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited