Rethinking Monetary Sovereignty: The Global Credit Money System and the State Steffen Murau, Boston University (
[email protected]) Jens van ’t Klooster, KU Leuven/University of Amsterdam, (
[email protected]) Abstract: This article proposes a conception of monetary sovereignty that recognizes the reality of today’s global credit money system. Monetary sovereignty is typically used in a Westphalian sense to denote the ability of states to issue and regulate their own currency. This article rejects the Westphalian conception. Instead, it proposes a conception of effective monetary sovereignty that focuses attention on what states are actually able to do in the era of financial globalization. The conception fits the hybridity of the modern credit money system by acknowledging the crucial role not only of central bank money but also of money issued by regulated banks and unregulated shadow banks. These institutions often operate ‘offshore’, outside of a state’s legal jurisdiction, which makes monetary governance more difficult. Monetary sovereignty consists in the ability of states to effectively govern these different segments of the monetary system and thereby achieve their economic policy objectives. Keywords: Financial ethics; political theory; international finance; money; offshore; shadow banking 1 1. Introduction1 Even though monetary sovereignty has repeatedly been declared dead, the concept remains an important reference point in both academic discourse and international politics.2 Its rumoured demise, we contend, is due to a poor understanding of what it means to be sovereign in relation to money. Monetary sovereignty is typically used in a Westphalian sense to denote the mere ability of states to issue and regulate their own currency.