 The Myth of the Monetary Belle ÉpoqueReview of Political Economy, 2023, vol. 35, issue 2, 374-382 Abstract: The gist of Money and Empire by Marcello de Cecco consists in showing how discretional policy decisions, rather than automatic adjustment operating through the price-specie-flow mechanism, guaranteed the orderly functioning of the Gold Standard. The decades before WWI, often regarded as the heyday of the Gold Standard, were in fact the years of its decline. The paper argues that, in addition to its important contribution to the reconstruction of the actual functioning of the Gold Standard, Money and Empire prompts two reflections. The first is on the general argument of the book that all monetary systems must be studied by looking at the power relations underlying them, money being a social construct. The second concerns the use made by de Cecco of both economic facts and economic theories and his reconstruction of their reciprocal influence. Re-reading Money and Empire invites thus to reflect on the complex relations between economic theory, economic history and the history of economic ideas, fields where de Cecco moved at ease. Date: 2023 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:35:y:2023:i:2:p:374-382 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2022.2099665 Access Statistics for this article Review of Political Economy is currently edited by Steve Pressman and Louis-Philippe Rochon More articles in Review of Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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