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EDGARD MILHAUD AND THE CASE FOR ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL CLEARING UNION IN THE 1930s. A FORGOTTEN FORERUNNER OF KEYNES?

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  • Faudot, Adrien
  • Nenovsky, Nikolay

Abstract

Edgard Milhaud (1873–1964), a professor at the University of Geneva, published a series of texts (from 1932 onwards) promoting the establishment of multilateral international compensation between nation states, and actively campaigned for this project. His plan centered on a call for a “gold truce” as an alternative to the bilateral clearing agreements that proliferated at the time. The plan drew the attention of several international organizations. It reached the point of arousing the interest of the League of Nations (LON), which decided in 1934 to launch an inquiry (published in 1935) questioning LON members about the project of making clearing agreements multilateral. The Milhaud plan nevertheless fell into oblivion after the Tripartite Agreement (1936) and then the outbreak of WWII. This work aims to situate the Milhaud plan in its intellectual and political context —i.e., the 1930s —analyze its content and understand its failure. The article also assesses what it had in common with the Keynes’ plan for International Cleating Union developed several years later.

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  • Faudot, Adrien & Nenovsky, Nikolay, 2024. "EDGARD MILHAUD AND THE CASE FOR ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL CLEARING UNION IN THE 1930s. A FORGOTTEN FORERUNNER OF KEYNES?," SocArXiv rveca, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:rveca
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/rveca
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    1. Adrien Faudot, 2021. "The Keynes Plan and Bretton Woods debates: the early radical criticisms by Balogh, Schumacher and Kalecki," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(4), pages 751-770.
    2. Edgard MILHAUD, 1949. "For the Liberation of lnternational Trade. The Compensation - Cheque," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 57-104, January.
    3. W. H. Edridge & A. E. Upton & R. S. Bradley, 1942. "GOODS AND SERVICES IN EXCHANGE FOR GOODS AND SERVICES The Milhaud Plan," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 122-128, January.
    4. Paul LAMBERT, 1963. "The Social Philosophy Of John Maynard Keynes," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 483-515, October.
    5. Bruce A. Champ, 2008. "Stamp scrip: money people paid to use," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Apr.
    6. Schwartz, Anna J, 1997. "From Obscurity to Notoriety: A Biography of the Exchange Stabilization Fund," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 29(2), pages 135-153, May.
    7. Von Muralt, 1934. "THE WOERGL EXPERIMENT WITH DEPRECIATING MONEY.-super-(1)," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 48-57, January.
    8. Edgard MILHAUD, 1934. "Will Governments Heed Our Proposals At Last?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 65-70, March.
    9. Harris,Max, 2021. "Monetary War and Peace," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108484954.
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