ABSTRACT OF PAPER
Title: Keynes’s battle over international monetary system: between “internationalist” system designer and political pragmatist
Author: Hirai Toshiaki
The present report aims at examining the proposals Keynes put forward in regard to an international monetary system after the WWII, and how he came to change his stance as actual political negotiations proceeded. For this purpose two tasks are carried out. The first task is to analyze the original plan put forward by Keynes (the International Clearing Union. ICU) and the one by White (the International Stabilization Fund Plan. SF), and examine how the two plans were reviewed in the first half of the negotiations (from October 1942 to June 1943). The second task is to follow the negotiations between the two in the last half (from June 1943 to April 1944) characterized as the Integration Process and examine how Keynes came to change his stance. Around June 1943 Keynes, in substance, came to put the ICU aside, and tried to make some sort of compromise by reforming the White plan through the monetization of unitas. This effort failed because of the refusal of the US. Then Keynes came to justify the White plan on the ground that it was much more crucial to secure a financial aid from the US. He came to show an aspect of pragmatist, maintaining the position of the British Empire in the postwar world, by cooperating with it rather than holding out against it. As to both commodity plan and relief and reconstruction plan, what Keynes initially aimed at had foiled around February 1942 — February 1943. Under these situations, Keynes might have hoped somehow to establish an international monetary system even by accepting the US plan. Keynes had been much concerned that without the help from the US the British Empire might collapse (It should be added, however, that he had not a slightest idea of emancipating the colonies). How could we interpret the changed stance which Keynes showed through these negotiations? This is quite interesting and very difficult to answer. It should be noted that these two facets in Keynes are persistently recognizable in his activities in the postwar planning such as commodity plans and reconstruction plans. Keynes as a system designer worked out proposals, which showed excellence of “internationalism” while he revealed himself, in the process of negotiations, as a sort of political pragmatist for the interests of the British Empire.
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