Many believe that Canada's deepening economic integration with the United States and the worldwide trend towards currency blocs will eventually lead to a North American monetary union. In the first detailed analysis of Canadian exchange rate politics, Eric Helleiner challenges this view. Helleiner finds little support in the U.S. for the concessions that would be necessary to make a North American monetary union palatable in Canada. Comparing the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Monetary Union, he argues that the influence of Canada within a North American monetary union would be far less than that of individual countries within the European community.

He also considers the seemingly paradoxical support of Quebec sovereignists for free trade and monetary union. Towards North American Monetary Union? explores Canada's unusually strong commitment throughout the twentieth century to a floating exchange rate for its national currency - a commitment that Helleiner argues is likely to continue.