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Handbook of the History of Money and Currency pp 1–32Cite as

International Monetary Regimes: The Interwar Gold Exchange Standard

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Abstract

Historical accounts of the international monetary system generally oppose the classical gold standard of 1880–1914 and its interwar successor of 1925–1931. While the pre-WW1 gold standard is usually described as a paragon of international monetary and price stability, its interwar version remains associated with memories of foreign exchange market turbulence, global deflation, and, of course, the Great Depression. This chapter provides an overview of the interwar gold exchange standard system. How did this system emerge in the 1920s? How was it implemented in practice? Why did it collapse in the 1930s? And what was the link between the interwar gold exchange standard and the Great Depression?

Keywords

  • Gold exchange standard
  • Foreign exchange reserves
  • Currency stabilization
  • Devaluations
  • Great Depression

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

    Olivier Accominotti

  2. Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, UK

    Olivier Accominotti

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  1. Olivier Accominotti
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Correspondence to Olivier Accominotti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dpt of Economic History & Institutions, Universidad Carlos III Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Prof. Dr. Stefano Battilossi

  2. RSCAS/Dpt of History and Civilization, European University Institute, Florence, Firenze, Italy

    Prof. Dr. Youssef Cassis

  3. School of Commerce, Waseda University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Prof. Kazuhiko Yago

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Accominotti, O. (2018). International Monetary Regimes: The Interwar Gold Exchange Standard. In: Battilossi, S., Cassis, Y., Yago, K. (eds) Handbook of the History of Money and Currency. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0622-7_24-1

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