Stage de recherche d'Ilaria Pasotti consacré à la pensée économique de Robert Triffin

Robert Triffin (1911-1993) was one of the chief protagonist of the second post world war monetary history.
He was an academic interested in monetary issues of international economics and economic policy and he was also an economic advisor for various international organizations and national governments and central banks throughtout the world.
As he maintained in an autobiographic essay, his scientific contribution was devoted to two issues which he regarded as complementary: worldwide monetary reform of the gold convertible exchange standard and regional monetary cooperation, culminating in the long period in full monetary and political union in various parts of the world.
The research here proposed will analyse Triffin’s contribution as academic economist and economic advisor on international monetary economics and political economy. In particular, it will study in depth his proposals to reform the international monetary system and to realize regional monetary agreements, particularly in the European economic integration process, trying to make clear and to understand the complementarity link between them.
In order to reach this aim, it will examine his economic thought, then it will place historically his contribution and finally it will try to answer some questions spring from his specific professional experience, in particular the relationship between facts, theory and economic policy choices.