England's Cross of Gold : : Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs / / James Ashley Morrison.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2021
• VerfasserIn: Morrison, James Ashley,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Cornell Studies in Money
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (402 p.)

In England's Cross of Gold, James Ashley Morrison challenges the conventional view that the UK's ruinous return to gold in 1925 was inevitable. Instead, he offers a new perspective on the struggles among elites in London to define, and redefine, the gold standard—from the first discussions during the War; through the titanic ideological clash between Winston Churchill and John Maynard Keynes; to the final, ill-fated implementation of the "new gold standard."Following World War I, Winston Churchill promised to restore the ancient English gold standard—and thus Britain's greatness. Keynes portended that this would prove to be one of the most momentous—and ill-advised—decisions in financial history. From the vicious peace settlement at Versailles to the Great Depression, the gold standard was central to the worst disasters of the time. Economically, Churchill's move exacerbated the difficulties of repairing economies shattered by war. Politically, it set countries at odds as each endeavored to amass gold, sowing the seeds of further strife. England's Cross of Gold, grounded in masterful archival research, reveals that these events turned crucially on the beliefs of a handful of pivotal policymakers. It recasts the legends of Churchill, Keynes, and their collision. And it shows that the gold standard itself was a metaphysical abstraction rooted more in mythology than material reality.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transcription -- Part One: Introductory -- Part Two: Orthodoxy -- Part Three: Mythology -- Part Four: Theocracy -- Part Five: Conclusion -- Notes -- Sources and Bibliography -- Index