Interview by James Reston (New York Times) with Helmut Schmidt

Abstract

The following excerpts are from an interview with Helmut Schmidt by the well-known American journalist James Reston published on 25 August 1974 in the New York Times. (See James Reston: “Bonn Chancellor Bids Ford Act With Care on Inflation—Warns in Interview That Extreme Moves by U.S. Could Upset World Economy Asks Day-to-Day Consultation”, in: New York Times, 25 August 1974. This article which summarized Schmidt’s comments in the interview.) This interview underlines the efforts of Schmidt, elected Chancellor 3 months earlier, to ensure that the finance ministers of the US, France, Britain, Japan and the Federal Republic not only maintained the degree of monetary cooperation previously agreed, but extended it to their entire economic policy. Since due to its economic strength the United States played a key role, he was concerned after Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal and President Gerald Ford came into office that no similar abrupt changes should took place as had happened with Ford’s predecessor in 1971—with the end of the convertibility of the dollar into gold—without consultation with the industrialized countries mentioned above. It was an anticipation of the beginning of the World Economic Summit in 1975.