Catherine Schenk, The Decline of Sterling: Managing the Retreat of an International Currency, 1945—1992

摘要

The role of sterling and the management of its retreat from an international to a national currency has been a central issue in British postwar history. Politically as well as economically, sterling was important in defining Britain's place in the world. Sterling's place in the international monetary system distinguished Britain from other European countries in the postwar period. Moreover, the decline of sterling was an important development in the international monetary system, especially in the 1960s. As observed by Schenk, the demise of sterling as an international currency was widely predicted after 1945, but the process took 30 years to complete. Why was this downfall so prolonged? Traditional explanations emphasised British efforts to prolong sterling's role on the grounds that it either increased the capacity to borrow, enhanced prestige or supported London as an international financial centre. Schenk challenges this view. She shows that, as early as the 1950s, many British ministers and officials recognised that the burden of sterling's role in terms of the cost of borrowing and confidence in the exchange rate outweighed the benefits of sterling as an international currency. In her view, sterling's international role was critical for the stability of the international economy (the United States saw sterling as the dollar's first line of defence, a 'domino' which had to be defended). Schenk argues then that sterling's international role was prolonged by the weakness of the international monetary system and by collective global interest in its continuation.