Essays in monetary history.

This summary focuses on a dissertation examining the currency composition of European foreign exchange reserves during the Bretton Woods era (1944–1973) through a novel database constructed from central banks' archives. The research analyzes the determinants of reserve currency choices by European central banks, highlighting the importance of financial market development, liquidity, and financial diplomacy, including the temporary impact of the gold pool on the U.S. dollar's reserve share. It also reevaluates the British pound's international role, arguing that sterling's postwar reserve status was largely confined to the sterling area and maintained through British economic sanctions and diplomatic pressures, characterizing it as a "zombie" international currency. Finally, the study investigates the 19th-century Banque de France's discount window operations, showing how the bank managed liquidity provision and moral hazard by using detailed risk assessments to support a broad range of financial intermediaries without incurring losses.