Strained Relations: U.S. Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century.

• Position: Bureau Books

Strained Relations: U.S. Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century, by Michael D. Bordo, Owen F. Humpage, and Anna J. Schwartz, is now available from the University of Chicago Press.

During the 20th Century, foreign-exchange intervention was sometimes used in an attempt to solve the fundamental trilemma of international finance, which holds that countries cannot simultaneously pursue independent monetary policies, stabilize their exchange rates, and benefit from free cross-border financial flows. Drawing on a trove of previously confidential data, Strained Relations reveals the evolution of U.S...