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The empire strikes back: Hong Kong and the decline of sterling in the 1960s

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  • CATHERINE R. SCHENK

Abstract

The aftermath of the sterling devaluation of 1967 is usually portrayed only in terms of the performance of the British economy, but it had more far‐reaching implications, exposing the changed financial relationship between Britain and its overseas dependencies and prompting the end of the sterling reserve system. This article explores the reasons why Britain was forced to offer its first exchange guarantee to Hong Kong in May 1968. Prolonging the colonial monetary system devised in the period from the 1930s to the late 1960s created problems for Britain that shifted the balance of power to the point where Hong Kong and other colonies were able to force a re‐negotiation of their link to sterling.

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  • Catherine R. Schenk, 2004. "The empire strikes back: Hong Kong and the decline of sterling in the 1960s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 57(3), pages 551-580, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:57:y:2004:i:3:p:551-580
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00288.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Schenk, Catherine R., 1997. "Monetary institutions in newly independent countries: the experience of Malaya, Ghana and Nigeria in the 1950s1," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 181-198, October.
    2. Catherine R. Schenk, 1994. "Closing the Hong Kong Gap: the Hong Kong free dollar market in the 1950s," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 47(2), pages 335-353, May.
    3. Derek H. Aldcroft & Michael J. Oliver, 1998. "Exchange Rate Regimes in the Twentieth Century," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 865.
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    Cited by:

    1. Scott Newton, 2009. "The two sterling crises of 1964 and the decision not to devalue1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(1), pages 73-98, February.

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