Book Four - Disintegration - Chapter 30 - Following the Leader

Aug 25, 2026

The chapter analyzes the disintegration of the international gold standard after September 1931 by emphasizing the contrast between pre-war and post-war systems and the resulting split between a sterling world and a gold world. It explains why classification based on legal monetary standards or exchange-control techniques is less useful than studying exchange rates directly. Using statistical tables of monetary standard positions and departures from the gold standard, it discusses how these movements clarify but also complicate identification of the true divisions and their relation to sterling.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages184

Reading Time7 h 44 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter 30: Following the Leader

September 1931 to April 1933

Sterling and gold divide the world

This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the NationalBureau of Economic Research Volume Title:The International Gold Standard Reinterpreted,1914-1934 Volume Author/Editor:William Adams Brown,Jr. Volume Publisher:NBER Volume ISBN:0-87014-036-1 Volume URL:http://www.nber.org/books/brow40-1 Publication Date:1940 Chapter Title:Book Four,Disintegration,1931-1934;PartII,The Worldof Sterling and the World of Gold,September 1931 to April 1933 Chapter Author:William Adams Brown,Jr. Chapter URL:http://www.nber.org/chapters/c5949 Chapter pages in book:(p.1073-1255) CHAPTER 30 Following the Leader,September 1931 to April 1933 In order to emphasize the general contrast between the pre-war and post-war international gold standard systems westated in Chapter 21 that the existence of a separately defin-able sterling area after the war was evidence of the decline inthe importance of sterling as a world currency.Nevertheless,the influence of sterling over the world's exchanges was stilltremendous,and a logical first step in a study of the Disintegration period is to present a statistical picture of this in-fluence as reflected in the world’s exchange rates,and thus tojustify and give precise meaning to the statement that theworld was divided after September 1931 into a world of ster-ling and a world of gold. Such a procedure has definite advantages over other meth-ods of picturing the disintegration of the international goldstandard.An attempt,for example,to classify the countries ofthe world on the basis of the legal provisions defining theirmonetary standards after September 1931,or on the basis ofthe techniques by which their exchanges were controlled,would not yield very fruitful results.The whole tenor of ourstudy of the post-war period has shown that classifications ofmonetary systems based upon external forms do not assistvery materially in the analysis of what was happening to theinternational gold standard as a world institution.¹Classifica-tions according to the techniques of management are hardlymore helpful.According to the foot-rule of the writer the rec-ord of the oficial regulations restricting the freedom of deal-1Cf.in particular our examination of the lack of substantial meaning of out-ward adherence to the gold standard by periphery countries in Ch.24 and nthe section on Argentina in Ch.14. 1074 Monetary Standard Position of 50 Countries,January I,I933 OFF THE GOLD STANDARD AND WITH DEPRECIATED CURRENCIES Without Official With Official Control Control Argentina AustraliaBritish IndiaBritish MalayaCanadaEgyptFinlandGreat BritainIrish Free StateMexicoNew Zealand bNorwayPalestinePeruSiamSwedenUnion of S.Africa Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Denmark Ecuador Greece Japan Persiae Portugal SpainB Turkey sUruguay b 2 Current Monetary Issues(Brookings Institution,1933),p.8. ings in the exchanges in various countries,compiled by theBank for International Settlements,had reached in October1937 a thickness of two and a half feet.The student who at-tempts to thread his way through this maze will find his atten-tion equally divided between gold standard and non-goldstandard countries.This is shown by a table compiled by LeoPasvolsky.2 The interpretation of such a table is subject to NOMINALLY ON THE GOLD STANDARD WITH OLD PARITIES MAINTAINED THROUGH OFFI- CIAL CONTROL Austria Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Estonia Germany Hungary Latvia Rumania Yugoslavia The gold standard was never officially resumed after the World War. bThe gold standard was never officially reestablished after the war,but therewas a de facto return to pre-war gold parities. Persia had a silver standard until March r932,when a gold parity was legallyadopted,although the exchange rate followed the pound sterling. many difficulties.By no means all forms of exchange controlare embodied in official regulations.Consequently not eventhe area within whi

FAQs

为什么章节强调研究交换率而不是仅靠货币制度的法律分类？

章节认为基于外在法律形式或管理技术的分类，对分析黄金标准作为国际制度的变化帮助有限。交换率研究能更精确反映黄金标准分裂的真实程度。

1931年9月后世界如何被划分为“英镑体系”和“黄金体系”？

章节指出，进入1931年9月之后，世界货币体系在现实层面出现分化：一部分围绕英镑形成体系，另一部分与黄金相关联。该结论需要通过对各国交换率的研究来获得明确含义。

为什么“简单绘图”可能会掩盖交换率分组的关键事实？

章节指出，选择基准（base）非常关键。若仅以单一标准对各国交换率进行处理，可能会遮蔽9月1931年后世界交换体系分组中更深层的差异。

Aug 25, 2026

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