...the Cunliffe Committee provided an unequivocal definition of postwar British monetary policy in 1918: 'In our opinion it is imperative that after the war...effective gold standard should be restored without delay/ In short, a return to gold as soon as possible; moreover, the rest of the world (or at least the parts...

...stability of the past to predict that the same institution would generate stability in the future: 'In our opinion it is imperative that after the war...effective gold standard should be restored without delay.'10 The restoration envisaged by the Committee was the free purchase and sale of gold at pre-war...

...Interim Report in August 1918 left no doubt about the importance of the gold standard in postwar Britain: "In our opinion it is imperative that after the war...standard should be restored without delay. Unless [this] machinery ... is once more brought into play, there will be grave danger of a progressive credit...

...possible indefinitely to continue to support the exchanges with foreign countries by borrowing abroad. Unless the machinery which long experience has shown...credit is once more brought into play, there will be very grave danger of a credit expansion in this country and a foreign drain of gold which might jeopardise...

...expansion of legal tender currency. I may, however, briefly summarize their conclusions: They consider it imperative that, after the war, the conditions necessary...effective gold standard should be restored without delay. The first condition is that government borrowing should cease as soon as possible, and that an adequate...