ABSTRACT
In the course of the period 1971-76, the behavior of the currencies of Western Europe became more and more divergent. Between 1971 and 1976 the American attitude toward international monetary cooperation gradually became more flexible. Faced by the suspension of dollar convertibility and the hardening of American policy, the members of the European Economic Community were able to restore a certain degree of unity of views during the second half of 1971. The deficit countries — European and non-European — have increasingly sought to cover their deficits by borrowing from American banks and on the Eurodollar market. They have seen advantages in this nonpolitical form of debt, which does not necessarily entail conditions about the management of the internal affairs of the borrowing countries. Thus the network of commercial banks of all countries — but mainly the American banks — now performs an increasingly important function in the management of the international monetary system.
