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France and the Bretton Woods International Monetary System: 1960-1968

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  • Michael D. Bordo
  • Dominique Simard
  • Eugene White

Abstract

We reinterpret the commonly held view in the U.S. that France, by following a policy from 1965 to 1968 of deliberately converting their dollar holdings into gold helped perpetuate the collapse of the Bretton Woods International Monetary System. We argue that French international monetary policy under Charles de Gaulle was consistent with strategies developed in the interwar period and the French Plan of 1943. France used proposals to return to an orthodox gold standard as well as conversions of its dollar reserves into gold as tactical threats to induce the United States to initiate the reform of the international monetary system towards a more symmetrical and cooperative gold-exchange standard regime.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael D. Bordo & Dominique Simard & Eugene White, 1994. "France and the Bretton Woods International Monetary System: 1960-1968," NBER Working Papers 4642, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:4642
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eichengreen, Barry, 1996. "Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195101133.
    2. Robert Triffin, 1965. "Sterling, The Dollar, De Gaulle and Gold," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 19-23, April.
    3. Anonymous, 1965. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 1052-1056, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eugene N. White & Filippo Occhino & Kim Oosterlinck, 2007. "How Occupied France Financed Its Own Exploitation in World War II," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 295-299, May.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry, 1993. "The Endogeneity of Exchange Rate Regimes," CEPR Discussion Papers 812, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage & Anna J. Schwartz, 2015. "US Intervention during the Bretton Woods Era, 1962–1973," NBER Chapters, in: Strained Relations: US Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century, pages 120-209, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Michael D. Bordo & Barry Eichengreen, 1998. "Implications of the Great Depression for the Development of the International Monetary System," NBER Chapters, in: The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century, pages 403-454, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sergey Narkevich & Pavel Trunin, 2012. "Reserve Currencies: Factors of Evolution and their Role in the World Economy," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 162P.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions

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