Graduation Year
2024
Date of Submission
4-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)
Reader 1
Cameron Shelton
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Dante McDermott
Abstract
This thesis analyzes the history and policy variations of dollarization to gain understanding that can be used to evaluate the proposal of dollarization in Argentina. After analyzing the monetary policy histories of Ecuador, El Salvador, Liberia, Panama, and Zimbabwe, I put the main takeaways into the context of Argentina’s monetary history and current economic situation. I find that the adoption of foreign currencies in an economy provides short-term relief from inflationary crises, but that long-term economic benefits are vulnerable to attacks by populist leaders and their high spending governments. In order to maximize the long-term benefits of dollarization, the policy must be accompanied by constraints on the executive branch and the state’s access to reserves. The enforcement of these constraints is best carried out by a judiciary which is protected from interference from the executive.
Recommended Citation
McDermott, Dante, "A Dollar a Day Keeps Inflationary Crisis Away: An Evaluation of Proposed Dollarization in Argentina" (2024). CMC Senior Theses. 3637.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3637
