The London Economic Conference

The London Economic Conference was held to try to stabilize worldwide currencies. The ambivalence of the US to the conference doomed it from the start.

The London Economic Conference opened on June 12th, 1933. The stated goal was to stabilize world currencies and try to return countries to the Gold Standard. At first, Roosevelt had supported the purposes of the conference. However, Roosevelt had second thoughts once the meeting had gotten underway. FDR began to believe that nothing should be done that would limit his ability to affect US economic policy, especially his goal of trying to re-inflate the economy.

When the conference reached a declaration of principals, the American negotiators present there– including FDR’s close advisor Raymond Moley– urged Roosevelt to endorse the agreement in principle. Instead, Roosevelt sent a bombastic telegram that ended any chance for agreement. In retrospect, it clearly can be argued that although Roosevelt may have been right in his substantive objections, his management of the making of the policy was less than stellar.

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