Congratulations to Masazumi Wakatabe for tracking down the late 1933 =
references in which groups of prominent economists criticised FDR's gold =
policy (in the Washington Post and New York Times). Could Masazumi give =
us the names of the signatories?
Probably in direct response to these letters, six junior Harvard =
economists, led by Lauchlin Currie, wrote an open letter to FDR in the =
New York Times, January 25, 1934, that began:
In view of the amount of adverse criticism that has been directed =
against the policies of your administration by professional economists, =
we feel it incumbent upon us to express to you our sincere admiration =
both of your general objectives and the statesmanship with which you =
have sought to attain these objectives. While our support extends =
broadly to all the major efforts of your administration, we wish to =
single out for special commendation that which has received more =
criticism perhaps than any other at the hands of our professional =
colleagues ? namely, your monetary policy.
The deliberate departure from the gold standard marked one of the =
rare occasions since the war when a government both foresaw danger and =
took action to avoid it... What many authorities did not realize, and =
what has become increasingly evident, was that the departure from the =
gold standard was an absolutely indispensable prerequisite to the =
adoption of your other policies of reform and recovery. Otherwise, =
every proposal would have been opposed on the ground that it might =
endanger the maintenance of the gold standard...
The full text of this letter (signed by Currie, Alan Sweezy, Raymond =
Walsh, John Crane, John Cassels and Robert Lamb) can be accessed at =
http://ariel.emeraldinsight.com/vl=3D2580919/cl=3D96/nw=3D1/rpsv/~1103/v3=
1n3/s7/p261
It appears in the current issue of the Journal of Economic Studies -- a =
special issue (edited by me) containing about 20 of Lauchlin Currie's =
hitherto unpublished memoranda on monetary policy that he wrote at =
Harvard (1931-34), at the Fed (1934-39), and at the White House (as =
FDR's economic adviser), 1939-45.
- Roger Sandilands
University of Strathclyde, UK
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