Читать книгу Financial Cold War. A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets онлайн

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In the early 1930s, the world was mired in the Great Depression and the prevailing monetary orthodoxy for countries to tie the value of their currencies to a fixed quantity of gold had broken down. With great reluctance, Britain had abandoned the gold standard in September 1931 and devalued sterling. Twenty-five other nations followed suit shortly thereafter. The US held out for a time but was ultimately forced to give up the dollar's fix to gold in April 1933, shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. There followed a period during which the dollar's exchange rate seemed to fluctuate arbitrarily, as the President took to setting a target exchange rate from his bed each morning, mostly based on whim rather than scientific method. While the thought of befuddled bankers rather tickled Roosevelt's sense of humour, concerns were raised from within the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, where some considered FDR to be acting beyond his presidential authority in buying gold at a price above the level fixed by statute. Roosevelt ultimately relented and, under the Gold Reserve Act, re-fixed the dollar's exchange rate to gold in January 1934 at $35 per ounce, 59.06 percent below its previous level.ssss1