Project Motivation and Statements by Scholars and Central Bank Governors
Most of the available literature on economic history deals with the advanced countries of Western Europe and the United States of America. The monetary and financial history of South-Eastern Europe, however, is still largely unexplored. This data volume aims at filling this gap by shedding light on the monetary history of the individual countries in South-Eastern Europe and on the region as a whole.
By making this historical database available to a wider audience, the SEEMHN hopes to motivate researchers to further investigate financial and monetary economics of South-Eastern Europe
Statements by Scholars
Michael D. Bordo, Rutgers University and NBER
“…statistical series such as these serve as the skeleton for the […writing of the Monetary history of South-East Europe]. Institutional detail and historical narrative will put flesh on the bones.”
Luis A. V. Catão, International Monetary Fund and Joint Vienna Institute
“…the volume’s comparative outlook…amply highlights main threats to financial stability, including the perils of ‘importing’ policy credibility through currency pegs whilst political institutions remain fragile and fiscal discipline elusive.”
Nicos Christodoulakis, Athens University of Economics and Business
“This landmark volume of [South-Eastern European] monetary history and data series ... will remove not only several quantitative handicaps faced so far by relevant research initiatives, but also some of the prejudice characterising the debates on whether and to which extent these economies could be ever considered as intrinsically linked to the main European developments.”
Matthias Morys, University of York (author of the introduction)
"South-Eastern European monetary history is no longer terra incognita.”
Statements by Central Bank Governors
Yannis Stournaras, Governor of the Bank of Greece
“Learning from Greece’s experience and comparing it with the experiences of South-East European countries allow the creation of a valuable historical database, continuously enriched with new data. This will provide economic agents and policy makers with useful information on policy responses and outcomes. Quantitative data are an essential tool in this respect.”
Ivan Iskrov, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank
“The BNB believes that the volume will serve as a statistical hub of South-Eastern European monetary and economic time series. Together with the research that has already been conducted within the SEEMHN, it will further promote the study of monetary and economic history in a comparative perspective outside the narrow scope of the region.”
Mugur Constantin Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania
“The Romanian central bank’s interest in the South-East European Monetary History Network (SEEMHN) programme was also sparked by the conviction that people will be ready to embark on new avenues only after they have fully comprehended the past.”
Ewald Nowotny, Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank
“This book is the result of a long and intensive dialogue among researchers from different countries of the region. May it also serve as a useful basis and stimulus for further research. The OeNB is looking forward to the next round of debates and analyses.”