The Money Changers

Robert G. Williams is Voehringer Professor of Economics at Guilford College. Originally a Central Americanist scholar, he turned his attention to world currency markets in 1995.His previous books include States and Social Evolution - Coffee and the Rise of National Governments in Central America (UNC Press 1994).

Introduction: Encounter with a Moneychanger
1. A Glance at Foreign Exchange at Breakfast
2. A Visit to the Local Bank: What Do Money Changers Buy and Sell?
3. How Do Money Changers Arrange Deals?
4. Who Are the Actors in the World's Biggest Market?
5. Where Deals are Made: Historical Geography of Money Changer Enclaves
Why Do Money Changers Cluster Where They Do?
Paradox of Clustering in a Computer-linked World
6. Professor Smith Gets FX'd in Tokyo: Could He Have Profited from a Currency Forecast?
7. Inside the Trading Room: Philosophies behind Trading Strategies
Vision No. 1: It's All Supply and Demand
Vision No. 2 : It's All Fundamentals
Vision No. 3: It's All Technical
8. Behind the Fish Tank: What Causes Rates to Change?
9. How Currencies are Delivered: Snapshot of an Evolving System
A Visit with a Payments Systems Expert
Appendix to Chapter 9: Diagrammatic Notes on Currency Delivery Channels
10. The Big Apple: Electronic Dollar Deliveries through CHIPS
11. Time to Settle Up: CHIPS Closes the International Dollar Day at the New York Fed 4:30-5:00 pm
CHIPS Upgrades to Real Time Final Settlement 2001
Finally, a Delivery System Safe from Foreign Exchange Settlement Risk:
Continuous Linked Settlement Bank begins in 2002
Lessons of September 11, 2001 for Global Payments
12. In the City of London after the Russian Default: Anatomy of Currency Storms of the 1990s?
13. The Euro in its Infancy
Prologue
The Potential of the Euro as a World Currency The Euro-Revolution in Stocks and Bonds
The Transition of the Real Economy to Euro
14. Doubts about the Euro and the new Central Bank
A European Central Banker Waits on the Sidelines
Doubts about TARGET, the Official Euro Payments System
Reflections on the Future of the World Monetary System
Wrap-up Session with Walter Blass
Update Appendix: Euro Developments after the 1999 London Interviews
15. Testing the Dollar's Hegemony: Will the Adjustments be Smooth?
Source of the Dollar Doubts: How long will Foreigners Finance US Overspending?
Dollar Testing Episodes and the Evolution of Market Stories
Episode 1: Spring and Summer 2002
Episode 2: The Buildup to War
Episode 3: Fall of 2003
Episode 4: 2004 Presidential Elections and their Aftermath
Relief for the Dollar: Spring and Summer 2005
A Smooth or Turbulent Adjustment: Greenspan vs Volcker
The Run on the Dollar in the Late 1970s
The Political Economy of Sterling's Decline as Global Currency
Long-run Lessons for the Dollar's Loss of Hegemony
A Hopeful Conclusion