ABSTRACT
The main thrust of sterling policy through the 1950s was to widen the role of sterling in the international economy. The inter-war period had shown dramatically that the USA could not be trusted to provide international liquidity in a crisis, or to act in the interests of the international economy, so sterling and Britain still had an important role to play. Successive governments also strove for a ‘strong’ pound because it was believed to generate price and employment stability and reflected confidence in the British economy as well as supporting traders and merchants in the City of London.
