Money and Politics: European Monetary Unification and the International Gold Standard (1865-1873)

Luca Einaudi
Additional contact information
Luca Einaudi: Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge University

in OUP Catalogue from Oxford University Press

Abstract: Money and Politics reconstructs for the first time the full history of the creation of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU), a long forgotten precedent of the Euro. It focuses in particular on the attempted transformation of the LMU into a European Monetary Union between 1865 and 1873. The use of extensive diplomatic and banking archives in France, Britain, Italy, and Germany has enabled the author to reconstruct in detail the intellectual debate concerning the gold standard and bimetallism, as well as the surrounding political and diplomatic manoeuvres, which in many ways anticipated the conflicts of today's monetary unification. Einaudi's findings show that the project of a common currency was well received in central and southern Europe, but worked against the emergence of a united Germany, and was blocked by the Franco--Prussian war. In Britain, Disraeli declined to join the Latin Monetary Union, but in 1869, the new Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer saw the advantages offered by a scheme which appeared to be enjoying success on the Continent, and attempted to join the monetary union, thereby alienating and securing the opposition of both the City and Gladstone. This book is written in an accessible and multidisciplinary fashion, and will appeal to economists, historians, and political scientists with an interest in the formation and readjustment of government policies. It also paints a fascinating picture for policy makers and all those concerned with current debates surrounding EMU and the British position.

Date: 2001
ISBN: 9780199243662
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780199243662

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://ukcatalogue.o ... uct/9780199243662.do

Access Statistics for this book

More books in OUP Catalogue from Oxford University Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Economics Book Marketing ().