Re: Imposing the US Dollar on Canada

["Colin Danby" <danbyc@xxxxxxx>]

> I do not know if they are still maintaining some kind
> of currency board arrangement or not.

The extent to which Argentina has ever really had a c-board is unclear,
since it has always been willing to manipulate the relation between the
monetary base and money supply, as it just did recently in cutting reserve
requirements.  Basically Argentina has had a fixed exchange rate, very free
convertibility, and tight money for ten years, plus policies to push down
nominal wages.  The "credibility" around its exchange rate has come mainly
in the fact that so much dollar-denominated public and private debt has
accumulated that everyone realizes devaluation would hurt government and
much of the private sector.  This is what I described the other day as
taking yourself hostage.

It's misplaced concreteness to discuss Argentina's "currency board" as such.
It's a fetish, a political symbol.

Best, Colin