by JULIAN JACKSON
Kenneth Mouré’s new book extends and develops the analysis of his previous study of Bank of France policy between 1928 and 1936. This time he looks at French gold policy from 1914 until 1939. The book is an important addition to the literature on French economic policy between the wars. It is a fairly technical study which will not always be easy-going for those unfamiliar with economic and monetary history. Nonetheless Mouré writes with clarity and elegance, and his book deserves to be read by anyone interested in understanding the economic background to the turbulence of the inter-war years in France. This was a period when politicians, whose backgrounds had prepared them for entirely different problems, found themselves confronting the most intractable financial and economic situation. The fate of governments in the mid-1920s fluctuated much of the time according to the exchange rate of the franc.
Monthly Review Zine for more