AL - The evolution of Alexandre Lamfalussy´s thought on the international and European monetary system (1961 - 1993)

The evolution of Alexandre Lamfalussy´s thought on the international and European monetary system (1961 - 1993)
November 2011
National Bank of Belgium

"The establishment of the European Monetary Institute (EMI), the predecessor of the European Central Bank, on 1 January 1994, was a milestone in the process of European monetary integration. In this paper, we look at the work on the international and European monetary system of Alexandre Lamfalussy, its first president. Lamfalussy pursued a threefold career: as a private banker, a central banker and an academic. Partly under the influence of Robert Triffin, Lamfalussy soon became interested in international monetary issues. This paper analyses his views on the international monetary system and on European monetary integration, including his contributions to the Delors Report, which provided the framework for European monetary union. The paper draws extensively on archival research in the Lamfalussy papers at the Bank for International Settlements and the minutes of the EEC Committee of Governors' meetings. The paper provides not only an analysis of Lamfalussy's thought on European monetary integration, but also offers crucial insight into the Weltanschauung and way of thinking of European central bankers in this period...."

...

"During his time at the Banque de Bruxelles, Lamfalussy's research interests shifted to monetary and financial issues, both national and international. He was intellectually close to the Radcliffe Report (see Lamfalussy 1961b). In the 1963-1965 period, he was a member of the Segré Committee, appointed by the European Commission, which investigated the integration of the capital markets in the EEC (CEC, 1966). The Segré Report underlined the linkages between freedom of capital movements and progress in other areas, such as monetary and economic policies. He also participated in meetings of several groups on the reform of the international monetary system, one of he most famous being the Bellagio group together with, among others, Sir Roy Harrod, Harry Johnson, Peter Kenen, Fritz Machlup, Robert Mundell, Jacques Rueff, Robert Triffin, Tibor Scitovsky and Pierre Uri 3. In the early 1970s, Alexandre Lamfalussy was a member of the so-called "Group of Rome" (see Lamfalussy et al., 1974). In the mid-1970s, he was a member of the "Villa Pamphili group", which produced a report on monetary arrangements in the European Common Market (Balassa, 1976)..."

Source: http://www.nbb.be/doc/oc/repec/reswpp/wp217En.pdf

[Mrt: The pause was due to my long holiday in South.]