London Economic Conference

The London Economic Conference was a meeting of representatives of 66 nations from June 12 to July 27, 1933, at the Geological Museum in London. Its purpose was to win agreement on measures to fight global depression, revive international trade, and stabilize currency exchange rates.

The Conference was "torpedoed" by U.S. President Roosevelt in early July, when Roosevelt denounced currency stabilization.

When the Great Depression devastated the world economy in the years 1929-1932, it was generally assumed that the United States would serve as a hegemon, providing leadership for a program to bring about recovery. President Herbert Hoover in 1931 called for a conference to decide how to reduce tariffs and also revive prices (i.e. reverse the deflation associated with the Depression). The agenda for the Conference was drafted by representatives of six major nations who met in Geneva in 1932. The agenda asserted that intergovernmental debts should be settled as they represented a major obstacle in the road to recovery.

The Europeans believed that “the settlement should relieve the world” of the crushing debt burdens. But most of these debts were owed to the U.S., and Americans were reluctant to write them off. Senator Borah held that “the troubles of the world were really due to the War, and to the persistence of Europe in keeping great armaments, and to the mismanagement of money”; therefore, he was not willing to postpone, reduce, or cancel the payment of debts “and have Europe go ahead with a programme which has practically sunk the world into its present economic condition.”

Other events indicated that the U.S. would not support the Conference agenda as outlined. Roosevelt declared during his inaugural speech that “I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.” This was a clear signal to those in the Conference that Roosevelt would carry out his program to revive the American economy regardless of or even in opposition to international plans to revive the world economy.

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Wikipedia