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"This book comes at a crucial and timely moment. Changes in the balance
of global economic power, and the huge wealth being accumulated by Gulf
states, mean that an effective Gulf Monetary Union would have far-reaching
effects on the global economy. Rutledge’s careful analysis of the prospects and
requirements is exactly what is needed."
Timothy Niblock, Professor, Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, UK
"The book is as excellent as it is timely...It is destined to become a classic and
is required reading for all those interested in exchange rate issues in resourcebased
economies, a category that is rather wider than the GCC."
Willem H. Buiter, Professor of European Political Economy, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Click here to go to the publisher's site: www.routledge.co.uk
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This newly published book is one of only a handfull that focuses specifically on the economies of the GCC states:
Monetary Union in the Gulf: Prospects for a Single Currency in the Arabian Peninsula
At a time of momentous shifts in the balance of world economic
forces epitomized by the current oil price boom, the weakening US
dollar and the global credit crunch; the meteoric rise of the Arabian
Peninsula cannot be understated. Neither, therefore, can their planned
monetary union. As key suppliers of the world’s oil and gas the Gulf
states have accumulated vast wealth: taken together their sovereign
wealth funds are by far the world’s largest and the influence of these
funds is becoming increasingly apparent. This book provides a
thorough analysis of the scheduled 2010 monetary union. Its findings
are based on both primary research and a detailed empirical analysis
of the region’s economies spanning 1980-2006. It assesses the region
against optimal currency area criteria, the European criteria, highlights
outstanding preparations and considers the underlying economic
and political factors that may aid or indeed delay the launch date.
Critically this book argues that the present dollar-peg exchange rate
regimes are no longer optimal. The future Gulf dinar is likely to seek a
more independent path. The ramifications of this - a potential Islamic
anchor currency and an alternative oil-invoicing currency - are also
considered in some detail.
The author, Emilie Rutledge, is Assistant Professor of Economics at the United
Arab Emirates National University. She regularly contributes articles
and opinion pieces on GCC economic issues to the regional press.
Previously she worked as an economist at the Gulf Research Center, a
Dubai-based think tank. |
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