303R. A. de V.
Leigh to Harrod, 13 April 1933
[a]
De V. Leigh
comments upon a letter (not found) written by Harrod on 11 April, in
which a scheme proposed by the Chamber of Commerce was criticized. He
attaches a copy of the correspondence on this subject between
himself, C. L. Wall, F. Morris, M. A. Heilperin and A. C. Dobbs which
appeared week by week in The Times Trade and Engineering Supplement
between 31 December 1932 and 11 March 1933.
[1]
- 1. On June
1932, the London Chamber of Commerce issued a "Memorandum on
Monetary Policy", which had aroused widespread discussion. A. de
V. Leigh, the secretary of the London Chamber, further discussed
the proposal in two articles in The Times Trade and Engineering
Supplement ("New Monetary Policy. London's Chamber's Proposal", 17
December 1932, p. 275, and 24 December, p. 303). From the starting
points that "all trade is, in essence, barter" and that the value
of money derives from its quantity, the London Chamber recommended
that international payments should be settled not in terms of
gold, but in terms of "goods", via a Central Bankers' Clearing
House where exchange rates would be fixed by agreement and not
"pegged". As to currency, the Chamber recommended that it "should
be issued against the rediscounting with the Bank of England of
eligible commercial three-months bills, the proceeds of which will
be used for current production and distribution", so that "the
currency would rise and fall automatically with trade activity."
The
correspondence on this proposal run weekly in The Times Trade and
Engineering Supplement, under the title "New Monetary Policy" in
the period indicated in de Leigh's letter. In a later issue, de V.
Leigh further discussed "the gold fetish" in an article on "The
Monetary System and Means to Consumption. Realities and
Make-Belief" (25 March 1933, p. 31), which was discussed the
following week by M. Heilperin.
- a. From
the London Chamber of Commerce, Oxford Court, London
# , one page TLS, in HCN 10/10/15.
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