Floating exchange rates (March 1973-present)
The new float was supposed to be as short-lived as the August-December
1971 float had been. However, a rather long "temporary" period ensued.
Negotiations over a new set of pegged rates were expected to be long and
difficult. In addition, many economists believed that floating rates would be
more palatable than fixed rates, given the problems of the previous years. In
late 1973, once the temporary floating exchange-rate system was found to be
operating quite nicely, it was decided to continue it indefinitely.
The present system of exchange rates is really a hybrid system. Most of
the currencies of the world belong to developing countries, and most of these
are pegged to one of the major currencies of the world. As of September 1982,
37 currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar; 13, to the French franc; and 5,
to other currencies. Thirty-nine currencies, including those of Sweden and
Austria, were pegged to a weighted basket of major currencies.
The currencies of nonmarket economy countries such as the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China are inconvertible and do not have formal
exchange rates. Most of the remainder of the countries of the world,
including the United States, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, and the United
Kingdom, allow their currencies to float.
Although the U.S. dollar is no longer "as good as gold," as it literally
used to be, it is still the prime intervention currency in the present-day
system of managed floats. Therefore, the exchange value of the dollar, much
more so than that of any other currency, is partly determined by the activities
of foreign central banks.