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Economic policy in the 1930s

Members of Cabinet arrive at Downing Street in August 1932 to discuss the Ottawa Conference.

A member of Cabinet arrives at Downing Street in August 1932 to discuss the Ottawa Conference.
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The financial crisis came to an end in 1932 and significant changes were made to economic and monetary policy. The government now followed a policy of low interest rates, protectionism and imperial preference.

Related documents

Change to Economic and Monetary Policy

Cabinet Memorandum. Report of Committee of Economists of the Economic Advisory Council. 24 October 1930 (PDF, 12.468MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Economy. Draft White Paper. Note by the Secretary. 8 September 1931 (PDF, 2.427MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Report of Committee of Economists of Economic Advisory Council. Note by the Secretary. 14 September 1931 (PDF, 10.962MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Report of Cabinet Committee on the Balance of Trade. Report. 19 January 1932 (PDF, 5.602MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Committee on the Balance of Trade. Memorandum of dissent from the Committee's Report by the Lord Privy Seal. 18 January 1932 (PDF, 1.465MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Committee on the Balance of Trade. Memorandum by the Home Secretary. 19 January 1932 (PDF, 1.227MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Committee on Industry and Trade. Memorandum by the President of the Board of Trade. 27 March 1929 (PDF, 8.870MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Report of the Macmillan Committee on Finance and Industry. Note by the Secretary. 27 June 1931 (PDF, 50.929MB)

Protectionism and Imperial Preference

Cabinet Memorandum. Forestalling. Memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade. 11 November 1931 (PDF, 0.470MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 2. The Balance of Trade. 29 January 1932 (PDF, 4.578MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Import Duties Bill. Note by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 21 January 1932 (PDF, 2.396MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 1. Import Duties Act (1932). 18 April 1932 (PDF, 0.982MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Discrimination against United Kingdom Exports. Memorandum by the President of the Board of Trade. 27 January 1932 (PDF, 1.042MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa. First Report by Cabinet Committee. 14 March 1931 (PDF, 6.458MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Proposed Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa. Second Report by Cabinet Committee. 2 May 1931 (PDF, 2.510MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Proposed Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa. Report by Cabinet Committee. 23 November 1931 (PDF, 7.493MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 7. Imperial Conference, 1930. 9 October 1930 (PDF, 3.661MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 5. The Imperial Conference. 24 October 1930 (PDF, 3.320MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 2. Imperial Conference, 1930. 28 October 1930 (PDF, 2.072MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Ottawa Conference (Agreements) Bill. Note by the Secretary. 9 September 1932 (PDF, 5.276MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Ottawa Conference. Summary of Conclusions and Copies of Trade Agreements. 8 September 1932 (PDF, 14.563MB)

The sterling area and attempts to stabilise exchange

Cabinet Memorandum. Second Report of Committee on International Economic Policy of the Economic Advisory Council. Note by the Secretary. 12 April 1933 (PDF, 4.109MB)

Cabinet Conclusions 2, 3 & 5. President Roosevelt's Statement & Monetary and Economic Conference. 17 May 1933 (PDF, 3.306MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 7. The Monetary and Economic Conference. 31 May 1933 (PDF, 6.542MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Monetary and Economic Conference. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 2 May 1933 (PDF, 0.971MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. The American Situation and the Monetary and Economic Conference. Seventh Report of Committee on Economic Information of the Economic Advisory Council. Note by the Secretary. 18 May 1933 (PDF, 3.485MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Committee on the Monetary and Economic Conference. Report on the Policy of the United Kingdom Delegation at the Conference. 26 May 1933 (PDF, 2.700MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. International Action Towards Relaxation of Obstacles to Trade. Note by the President of the Board of Trade. 23 October 1936 (PDF, 2.074MB)

Search using Gold Standard Imperial Economic Conference Balfour Committee

Further reading

Aldcroft, D.H., The Interwar Economy 1919-39 (London: Batsford, 1973)
Broadberry, S.N., The British Economy between the Wars (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986)
Pollard, S., The Development of the British Economy, 1914-1990 (London: Edward Arnold, 1992)
Cain, P.J. & Hopkins, A.G., British Imperialism: Crisis and Deconstruction, 1914-1990 (London and New York: Longman, 1993)
Floud, R.C. & McCloskey, D.C., The Economic History of Britain since 1700, Vol. 2 1860-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)

Content

Economic policy in the 1930s
Policy, protectionism and imperial preference
The sterling area and stabilisation

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