About
In the wake of the First World War, Winston Churchill promised to restore the ancient English gold standard—and thus Britain’s greatness. It proved to be one of the most momentous—and ill-advised—decisions in financial history.
From the vicious peace settlement at Versailles to the Great Depression, the gold standard was central to the worst disasters of the time. Economically, it exacerbated the difficulties of repairing economies shattered by war. Politically, it set countries at odds as each endeavored to amass gold, sowing the seeds of further strife.
What drove this diabolical crusade? The traditional view is that this movement followed inevitably from the dictates of material interests and deep structural forces.
England’s Cross of Gold challenges this account, offering an entirely new look at the struggles among elites in London to define, and redefine, the gold standard—from the first discussions during the War; through the titanic clash between Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, and world-famous economist, John Maynard Keynes; to the final, ill-fated implementation of the “new gold standard.”
Grounded in extensive archival research–including much previously neglected material–this book reveals that these events turned crucially on the beliefs of a handful of pivotal policymakers. It recasts the legends of Churchill, Keynes, and their collision. And it shows that the gold standard itself was a metaphysical abstraction rooted more in mythology than concrete material reality.
Contents
Part One: Introductory
Chapter 1. Genesis and Exodus: The Tragedy of England’s Return to Gold
Chapter 2. The Road to Calvary: From Orthodoxy to Theocracy
Part Two: Orthodoxy
Chapter 3. The Cunliffe “Consensus”
Chapter 4. Atop Sinai: More Heat Than Light
Chapter 5. The Golden Calf: The Public Idolize Gold
Chapter 6. Commandments: Defining the Law
Part Three: Mythology
Chapter 7. Myths: Theirs and Ours
Chapter 8. Liberalization: Implementing the Orthodoxy
Chapter 9. Who Would Control Capital?
Chapter 10. Keynes’s Revolution
Part Four: Theocracy
Chapter 11. Understanding “The Norman Conquest of $4.86”
Chapter 12. Central Bankers as Saviors?
Chapter 13. Indulgence
Chapter 14. Deposition and Coronation
Chapter 15. The Sanhedrin: Churchill’s Trials
Chapter 16. Judgment
Part Five: Conclusion
Chapter 17. Faith in History
Reviews
“A brilliant account of how Britain’s attempt to restore the Gold Standard after World War I was ideologically-driven. Brexit, the contemporary parallel, likewise aims to restore what never actually was. To understand why policy can be so detached from material interests, read this book.” – Mark Blyth, Brown University, author of Austerity
“England’s Cross of Gold offers a fresh, new treatment of the gold standard as a social and ideological construct. Morrison skillfully reminds us that history is contingent, depending on both individuals and deep structural forces.” – Barry Eichengreen, University of California, Berkeley, author of Golden Fetters and The Populist Temptation
Availability
England’s Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs. 402 pages. ISBN13: 9781501758430. ebook: $29.99 | hardcover $59.95
This book is forthcoming with Cornell University Press. It will be available for purchase in the summer/autumn of 2021.
Media
I discussed this book on the podcast Smith and Marx Walk into a Bar: A History of Economics Podcast. That discussion is available here.