This paper by Professor Catherine Schenk was prepared for the Hangzhou conference held on May 17-18, 2014 in China, as part of RBWC’s initiative for celebrating the 70th anniversary of Bretton Woods. All historians are cautious about claims of the ‘lessons of history’ – at best we can identify the reasons for the success or… Continue reading →
It did not take just the past couple of years to create a European banking union, but at least 48. And it is still far from the fully-fledged European banking union that is now announced with great fanfare – running the risk of later disillusions. Taking a longer-term view on its emergence helps qualify the… Continue reading →
Gold has come and gone as an administrative anchor to the global monetary system. Gold’s appeal tends to rise when the viability of “fiat money” (that is, money that is used as a medium of exchange for goods and services but is not backed by a specific commodity) is in question, inflation expectations run high,… Continue reading →
The 1930s Chatham House Study Group on ‘The International Gold Problem’ and the 2011 Chatham House Taskforce on ‘Gold and the International Monetary System’ The economic context of the 1930s Chatham House Study Group was in many ways very different from the modern-day Chatham House Taskforce, of which I am a member, but the focus… Continue reading →
