Part 5 The New Deal and the International Monetary System
The international monetary policies of the New Deal may be divided into two decisive
and determining actions, one at the beginning of the New Deal and the other at its end.
The first was the decision, in early 1933, to opt for domestic inflation and monetary
Monetary Nationalism, a course that helped steer the entire world onto a similar path
during the remainder of the decade.
The second was the thrust, during World War II, to reconstitute an international monetary
order, this time built on the dollar as the world's quote, key and crucial currency.
If we wish to use lurid terminology, we might call these a decision for dollar nationalism
and Dollar Imperialism, respectively.