Hugh Rockoff on Optimal Currency Areas, “Yellowbacks,” and Free Banking

Hugh Rockoff is a professor of economics at Rutgers University and has done extensive work in U.S. monetary history. He joins the show to discuss the criteria for an ideal monetary union and argues that the U.S. didn’t really become an optimal currency area until the 1930s. David and Hugh then discuss whether a present-day example, the Eurozone, fits these criteria. They also talk about interesting chapters in U.S. monetary history, including the Civil War, the Free Banking Era, and the bimetallism debate of the late 1800s.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

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Hugh’s Rutgers profile

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Related Links: 

*History of the American Economy* by Hugh Rockoff and Gary Walton

*How Long Did It Take the United States to Become an Optimal Currency Area?* by Hugh Rockoff

*"The Wizard of Oz" as a Monetary Allegory* by Hugh Rockoff

*The Free Banking Era: A Re-Examination* by Hugh Rockoff