ABSTRACT
The war forced both Britain and the USA to accept that in the future international political stability, and the economic prosperity needed to underpin it, would require a negotiated international economic settlement. The problem of international trade and finance was defined in terms of the conditions which had been experienced in the 1930s. It was considered essential that the terms of the loan were consistent with the broader pattern of Britain's international economic interests, especially in relation to the sterling area. Whether this is judged the major missed opportunity of the second half of the twentieth century for Britain will be considered later in the light of subsequent events. Britain's international payments position was part of the complex process of postwar economic adjustment and recovery to which further attention is given in. Once again, the Americans viewed the process which led to its formation as one aimed at closer economic integration of Western Europe and the rapid introduction of convertibility.
