Editing European Monetary System (section)

===German monetary policy dominates===
The EMS was similar to the [[Bretton Woods system]], in that it pegged member currencies within a fluctuation band. Furthermore, the EMS came to be 'de facto' centered on the Deutschmark similarly to how the Bretton Woods system had been based on the US Dollar.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaufmann, Hugo M.|title=Germany's international monetary policy and the European monetary system|date=1985|publisher=Social Science Monographs|isbn=0-88033-063-5|location=New York|oclc=11957859}}</ref><ref name="De Vries-1980" /> Although no currency was designated as an anchor, the Deutsche Mark and [[Deutsche Bundesbank|German central bank]] emerged as the anchor of the EMS. Germany emerged as the dominant player within the EMS, setting its monetary policy largely autonomously while other ERM members attempted to converge on the German standard of the Deutsche Mark, causing a power imbalance within the EMS.<ref name="MacDonald-1991" /> German monetary policy dictated the policy of the European Monetary System, because of its strong growth rate and the low-inflation policies of the German central bank.<ref name="MacDonald-1991" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Artus|first1=P.|last2=Avouyi-Dovi|first2=S.|last3=Bleuze|first3=E.|last4=Lecointe|first4=F.|date=1991|title=Transmission of U.S. monetary policy to Europe and asymmetry in the European monetary system|journal=European Economic Review|volume=35|issue=7|pages=1369–1384|doi=10.1016/0014-2921(91)90024-d|issn=0014-2921}}</ref> The influence of the US dollar also entailed strong disturbances within the EMS.<ref>Reichart Alexandre [2024], '[https://www.jeeh.it/articolo?urn=urn:abi:abi:RIV.JOU:2024;1.47 Managing Monetary Policy facing US External Constraint and Internal Macroeconomic Divergences: the Case of the Western European Central Banks in the 1980s]', ''The'' ''Journal of European Economic History'', 53(1), pp. 47-96.</ref> Eventually, this situation led to dissatisfaction in most countries and was one of the primary forces behind the drive to a monetary union.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}