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Going through the labyrinth: the political economy of Argentina’s abandonment of the gold standard (1929-1933)

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  • Gerchunoff, Pablo
  • Machinea, José Luis

Abstract

This article is the short but crucial history of four years of transition in a monetary and exchange-rate regime that culminated in 1933 with the final abandonment of the gold standard in Argentina. That process involved decisions made at critical junctures at which the government authorities had little time to deliberate and against which they had no analytical arsenal, no technical certainties and few political convictions. The objective of this study is to analyse those “decisions” at seven milestone moments, from the external shock of 1929 to the submission to Congress of a bill for the creation of the central bank and a currency control regime characterized by multiple exchange rates. The new regime that this reordering of the Argentine economy implied would remain in place, in one form or another, for at least a quarter of a century.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerchunoff, Pablo & Machinea, José Luis, 2015. "Going through the labyrinth: the political economy of Argentina’s abandonment of the gold standard (1929-1933)," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
  • Handle: RePEc:ecr:col070:40063
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    File URL: http://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/40063
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Power and Plenty: Trade, War and the World Economy in the Second Millennium (Preface)," Trinity Economics Papers tep0107, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1985. "Exchange Rates and Economic Recovery in the 1930s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 925-946, December.
    3. Elías Salama, 2000. "La Argentina y el abandono del patrón oro," Department of Economics, Working Papers 028, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    4. Ronald A. Shearer & Carolyn Clark, 1984. "Canada and the Interwar Gold Standard, 1920-35: Monetary Policy without a Central Bank," NBER Chapters, in: A Retrospective on the Classical Gold Standard, 1821-1931, pages 277-310, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Eichengreen, Barry & Flandreau, Marc, 2009. "The rise and fall of the dollar (or when did the dollar replace sterling as the leading reserve currency?)," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 377-411, December.
    6. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    7. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Preface to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Ellison & Sang Seok Lee & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2024. "The Ends of 27 Big Depressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(1), pages 134-168, January.
    2. Martin Ellison & Sang Seok Lee & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke, 2020. "The Ends of 30 Big Depressions," Economics Series Working Papers 896, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

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