Review

“Straining at the Anchor is more than a monetary history of Argentina up to the Great Depression. It clarifies specific problems that Argentina, as an open, peripheral economy, faced in a world of high capital mobility, and it addresses wider theoretical questions, such as the impact of the gold standard . . . and the importance of a nominal anchor in the monetary policies of developing countries.” (Klaus Veigel Business History Review )

“A wonderfully written book. A fascinating and insightful journey into one of the most interesting periods in Argentine economic history, when the world’s first full-fledged currency board was established.” (Pablo E. Guidotti, professor of economics, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella )

“In this book, della Paolera and Taylor bridge the gap between monetary and growth economics, and between institutional and cliometric history. By showing how the current problems of today’s emerging markets can be viewed through the lens of their past, they pave the way for a new economic history of the developing world.”

(Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science, University of C )

“Over the past century Argentina has been a monetary laboratory like no other; every conceivable experiment from hyperinflation to currency boards, from populism to depression orthodoxy has been practiced. Its astounding record is brilliantly diagnosed in this book. Far more than economic history, this is a treat in economics and a thorough analysis of economic policy.” (Rudi Dornbusch, professor of economics and international management, Massachuset )

“Tracing the struggle for macroeconomic stability in Argentina from the world’s first emerging market crisis of 1891 to the Great Depression of the 1930s, this book offers a penetrating analysis of the strengths as well as the ultimately fatal flaws in Argentina’s financial architecture. The lessons for institutional design and contemporary policy in the small open economies of the developing world are clear and compelling.”

(John H. Coatsworth, professor of history, Harvard University )

About the Author

Gerardo della Paolera is rector and professor of economics at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. Alan M. Taylor is associate professor of economics at the University of California, Davis and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.