Breakdown of the Liberal World Order and Britain’s Response

Abstract

When one considers the course of world economic and political development during the twentieth century then the City’s present position and prosperity in relation to domestic industry appears at first glance to be truly remarkable. London has survived the collapse of the gold standard; the chronic and periodically acute weaknesses of sterling; the total disruption of commerce and banking in two world wars; international depression; and three periods in which increasingly determined efforts have been made to restructure the British economy in line with what have been taken to be the requirements of productive capital.