Managing the Franc Poincaré
Economic Understanding and Political Constraint in French Monetary Policy, 1928–1936

An explanation of France's deflationary policy during the Depression.

Kenneth Mouré (Author)

9780521522847, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 April 2002

324 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.562 kg

"...a thorough acount of a much neglected subject: French monetary policy from stabilization of the franc in 1928 to its devaluation in 1936....Mouré provides a pathbreaking study in the fields of French and international financial history....This book will find a solid place among the important scholarly works in the history of international finance....a solid contribution that paves the way for further research in the vital field of international economic relations." Elisabeth Glaser-Schmidt, Journal of Modern History

Defence of the franc Poincaré dominated French economic policy during the Depression. While most countries took their currencies off gold to permit a wider range of domestic policies to foster recovery, in France policy makers resolved to preserve the gold parity of the franc by balancing the budget and lowering domestic prices. Novelty and experimentation were rejected in the conviction that a durable recovery was possible only through a return to strict neoclassical orthodoxy. Managing the Franc Poincaré examines French monetary management from 1928 to 1936 in order to explain this stubborn determination to achieve recovery through deflation despite evidence of its failures abroad.

Abbreviations used in notes
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The depression in France
2. French gold accumulation 1928–32
3. The world economic conference and the gold bloc
4. The Bank of France: market control and interest rate policy
5. The treasury and government finance
6. The devaluation debate
7. Devaluation of the Franc
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]