Co kdyby Jižní Amerika měla jednotnou měnu?

In today's globalisation and international integration era, many countries seek to create trade unions and agreements to cooperate and take advantage of the benefits of trading freely without trade barriers or import and export tariffs. Studies have shown that international trade is a net benefit for most countries. By being able to trade freely, a nation can focus on producing goods or services that they are best at and have a comparative advantage, leading to increased GDP. The European Union is a prime example of the success of such initiatives, providing its member countries with increased cross-border trade, economic stability, and other non-economic advantages. Different regions have followed suit, creating similar systems such as APTA in Asia, NAFTA in North America, and Mercosur in South America. These agreements aim to create an open market that increases the flow of goods between countries and boosts trade. However, South America has lagged in interregional integration due to economic and general developmental issues. Although the region's first free trade agreement, LAFTA, was established in 1960, trade within the region remains low, and the macroeconomic and political instability of its countries has hindered the ability to undertake extensive international projects like the Airbus in the EU. One factor contributing to the EU's success is the introduction of the euro 23 years ago. In addition to other benefits, it provided member countries with greater monetary stability and removed exchange rate risk, boosting intra-EU trade and trade with other countries. Those are the reasons why Latin America is an exciting candidate for the unification of its currency. A common currency could help increase monetary stability by reducing speculative attacks on currency, lowering inflation rates, and increasing interregional trade. This thesis aims to investigate how implementing a common currency would impact the South American economy, whether it would positively affect all countries or just some, and explore potential ways of implementing the currency. The first chapter will define the differences between macroeconomic collaboration and coordination and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of integration. It will also delve into the theory of economic integration and its relevance today, as well as the different types of coordination, such as strong and light. The chapter will conclude by examining distinct groups of countries that could form a monetary union. The second chapter will describe the Optimum Currency Area and make calculations based on it for the continent as a whole and for specific groups of countries. The limitations of this theory will be discussed, as well as the potential benefits and costs of a common currency for South American countries. Then the option of dollarisation will be explored. The third chapter will focus on the steps needed to implement a common currency. The first step will be political and cultural integration, followed by economic integration and finally, monetary integration. The final chapter will summarise the findings and draw a conclusion based on them.