John Bullion's Empire: Britain's Gold Problem and India Between the Wars

Description

Study of the impact of Britain's economic and financial crises on currency and monetary policy-making in India between the wars, analysing colonial policies during Anglo-US efforts to reconstruct the international financial system and Britain's struggle to restore the pre-eminence of sterling and the City. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Tables Acknowledgements 1 Introduction India and British 'Internationalism' Between the Wars Interests, Ideas, and Economic Policy Interests and Ideas in Indian Monetary Affairs The Interwar India Office and the City of London Plan of the Book 2 The Rupee in a Changing World The Indian Currency System The Gold Exchange Standard The Role of Gold Gold for India: Changing British Perceptions 3 Britain, U.S.A. and the 'Surpluses of the Orient': 1916－18 British External Finance in the War Britain, the U.S.A., and Indian Gold Imports during the War Indian Trade in the War The Convertibility Crisis The Pittman Silver Agreement Summary and Conclusion 4 'Gold for the West and Silver for the East': Currency Policy in Postwar India Indian Currency Dilemmas after the War The Babbington-Smith Committee The Triangular Context Revisited Treasury Response to the Report The Overflowing Sink Summary and Conclusion 5 Stabilizing the Floating Rupee: 1921－6 The External Environment The Managed Float Regime in India Currency Commission and Stabilization Conclusion 6 Britain, U.S.A., and the Indian Gold Standard Controversy, 1925－7 The Making of a Commission The Gold Standard Controversy The Politics of Silver, 1927－35 Gold-Bullion Standard － Myth and Reality 7 The Depression Years 'Gold Shortage' and the Sterling Crisis The Depression and India's External Sector The Policy Response and Constraints Gold Exports and Sterling Policy Gold Exports and the Indian Economy A Gold Glut? Conclusion 8 The Politics of Monetary Autonomy and the Imperial Interest in Interwar India The Early Impetus for Central Banking The Reserve Bank Controversy of 1927－8 The Reserve Bank and Political Reform 'Monetary Autonomy': A Summing Up 9 Conclusion: India and the Crisis of British Finance Bibliography Index