Mr Churchill, Mr Keynes and the UK’s Re-Entry to and Exit from the Gold Standard

The UK reestablished the gold value of sterling at its pre-WW1 level in April 1925, and Keynes wrote his pamphlet of the Economic Consequence of Mr Churchill, then Chancellor of the Exchequer. The paper begins with the UK’s suspension of the gold standard in two stages during World War 1, and the intended path to lifting that suspension after the end of World War 1. The involvement of Keynes in debates over the gold standard starting in 1916 and the evolving contributions of Keynes over the return leading to the events of 1925 are considered. The question of in whose interests the return was is then discussed. The paper finishes with a brief discussion of the economic circumstances in the UK in 1925–31 which fed into the abrupt departure of the UK from the gold standard and were welcomed by Keynes.