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The petrodollars and the world economy

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Intereconomics

Abstract

The quadrupling of the oil price by the OPEC in 1973 was a poignant event in the post-war development of the world economy. Which measures and mechanisms conduced to the international income redistribution necessitated by the hoisting of the oil prices in the past five years?

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References

  1. According to Triffin this involved 1.8% of the GNP of the OECD states. This average applies also to the Federal Republic of Germany; for the EC the redistribution amounted to 2.4%. (Quoted from Y. S. Park, Oil Money and the World Economy, Boulder, Colorado, 1976, p. 79.)

  2. Cf. “Die Katastrophe fand nicht statt” (The catastrophy did not take place), a euphemistic article dealing only with the outlook for the well-performing industrialized, countries, in: Die Zeit, October 13, 1978, p. 18.

  3. G. Tichy, Ölkosten—ein Transferproblem (Oil costs—a transfer problem), in: Sparkasse, No. 2/1975, p. 29 ff., on the basis of F. Machlup, Das Transferproblem—Thema und vier Variationen (The transfer problem—theme and four variations), in: ORDO 1963, p. 139 ff.; J. Welcker, Ölschulden als Transferproblem (Oil debts as a transfer problem), in: Konjunkturpolitik 1975, p. 71 ff.; H. B Chenery, Restructuring the World Economy, in: World Development, No. 10–12, 1975, p. 3 ff.; W. Lütkenhorst, H. Minte, Probleme des monetären und realen Transfers. Die Aufbringung und Verwendung der Petrodollar (Problems of monetary and real transfer. The generation and utilization of petrodollars), in: M. Tietzel (ed.), Die Energiekrise: Fünf Jahre danach (The energy crisis: Five years later), Bonn 1978, p. 37 ff. (English edition forthcoming).

  4. Cf., in regard to the definition of petrodollars and petrodollar recycling, H. Minte, Petrodollar-Recycling und die Dritte Welt (Petrodollar recycling and the Third World), in: Probleme der Entwicklungsländer, 1975, p. 315 f.

  5. Of interest is an estimate of the pecuniary losses due to the dollar depreciation: This loss is put at about $ 27 bn as $ 96 bn of the foreign assets were held in US currency which at the end of 1977 had only 72% of its 1974 value (cf., amongst others, Euromoney, May 1978, p. 36).

  6. Cf. H. Adebahr, Zwischenphase zur Bewältigung der Olkrise (Interim phase in the struggie against the oil crisis), in: WIRTSCHAFTSDIENST, 1975, p. 27 f.

  7. Cf., on the latter mode of procedure, H. Ben-Shahar, Oil: Prices and Capital, Lexington 1976.

  8. Cf. S. M. Yassukovich, Oil and Money Flows: The Problem of Recycling, issued by The Banker Research Unit, London 1975, p. 50.

  9. Cf. the figures given in W. Lütkenhorst, H. Minte, Probleme des monetären und realen Transfers, ibid., Probleme des monetären und realen Transfers. Die Aufbringung und Verwendung der Petrodollar (Problems of monetary and real transfer. The generation and utilization of petrodollars), in: M. Tietzel (ed.), Die Energiekrise: Fünf Jahre danach (The energy crisis: Five years later), Bonn 1978, p. 56.

  10. Cf., e.g., A. K. Bhattacharya, The Myth of Petro-Power, Lexington 1977, p. 71 ff.

  11. Cf. H. Minte, Erdöl und Entwicklung. Zur Ökonomie und Politik der erdölexportierenden Länder (Oil and development. On the economics and policies of the oil exporting countries), Wentorf/Hamburg 1975, p. 185 ff., and Z. Mikdashi, Surplus Funds and the Strategy of Oil Exporting Countries, in: N. A. Sherbiny/M. A. Tessler (ed.), Arab Oil. Impact on the Arab Countries and Global Implications, New York 1976, p. 209 ff.

  12. Cf., e.g., A. Alkazaz, Die multilaterale arabische Entwicklungshilfe an die afrikanischen Staaten. Die Institutionen und ihre Leistungen (The multilateral Arab development aid to African states. Institutions and their performances), in: Orient 3/1977, p. 115 ff.

  13. Cf. W. Lütkenhorst, H. Minte, Probleme des monetären und realen Transfers, ibid., Probleme des monetären und realen Transfers. Die Aufbringung und Verwendung der Petrodollar (Problems of monetary and real transfer. The generation and utilization of petrodollars), in: M. Tietzel (ed.), Die Energiekrise: Fünf Jahre danach (The energy crisis: Five years later), Bonn 1978, p. 67 ff.

  14. Cf. Morgan Guaranty Trust, World Financial Markets, November 1977, p. 10, and Euromoney, May 1978, p. 36.

  15. Cf., on the relative importance of various Euromarket centres. Y. S. Park, ibid., Oil Money and the World Economy, Boulder, Colorado, 1976, p. 89.

  16. Own calculations based on figures in: Bank of England, Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics, various years.

  17. Cf. W. Hankel, Die Zukunft des internationalen Währungsystems (The future of the international monetary system), in: WIRTSCHAFTSDIENST, March 1976, p. 137 ff., and the same author's book: Weltwirtschaft (The world economy), Düsseldorf 1977, p. 311 ff.

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Lütkenhorst, W., Minte, H. The petrodollars and the world economy. Intereconomics 14, 84–89 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02930203

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