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An Overplayed Hand: France and the Bretton Woods International Monetary System

Author

Listed:
  • Eugene N. White

    (Rutgers University and NBER)

  • Michael D. Bordo

    (Rutgers University)

  • Dominique Simard

    (Rutgers University)

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 co-operative gold-exchange standard regime.

Suggested Citation

  • Eugene N. White & Michael D. Bordo & Dominique Simard, 1996. "An Overplayed Hand: France and the Bretton Woods International Monetary System," Departmental Working Papers 199420, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:rut:rutres:199420
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    File URL: http://www.sas.rutgers.edu/virtual/snde/wp/1994-20.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathryn M.E. Dominguez, 1993. "The Role of International Organizations in the Bretton Woods System," NBER Chapters, in: A Retrospective on the Bretton Woods System: Lessons for International Monetary Reform, pages 357-404, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Matthew B. Canzoneri & Dale W. Henderson, 1991. "Monetary Policy in Interdependent Economies: A Game-Theoretic Approach," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262031787, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Bordo, 2014. "Tales from the Bretton Woods," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 981-991, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bretton Woods; France; international monetary system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

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