Charles de Gaulle, Jacques Rueff and French International Monetary Policy under Bretton Woods

Abstract

This article examines conservative French economist Jacques Rueff's arguments for a return to the gold standard in the 1960s. It explains the intellectual background out of which his belief in the importance of 'real money' arose, assesses his influence on the international monetary policy pursued by President de Gaulle in the mid-1960s, and sketches the relationship of his views to broader French and international debates about the international monetary system in this period. Rueff's belief in the gold standard arose in large part from his belief in the importance of monetary stability to what he considered 'Western' civilization and its struggle against the totalitarian 'East'. De Gaulle saw gold as a means of avoiding excessive supranationalism in international economic arrangements. Their plans for a return to gold were defeated for more complex reasons than are traditionally given.