The Gold Purchase Plan of 1933... FDR...
Item # 726579
October 10, 1933
THE NEW YORK TIMES, Oct. 10, 1933
* The Gold Purchase Plan - Warren Experiment
* Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
* Prelude to the "Gold Reserve Act of 1934"
* President Franklin D. Roosevelt - FDR
The top of the front page has a three column headline: "ROOSEVELT DECIDES TO BUY GOLD IN WORLD'S MARKETS; RFC WILL MAKE PURCHASES" with subheads. (see images) Lengthy coverage continues inside.
Complete with all 36 pages, rag edition in nice condition.
Background: The transition to the Gold Purchase Plan in late October 1933 represents a pivotal shift in American economic sovereignty, marking the moment the United States decisively moved toward a managed currency and away from the rigid constraints of the classical gold standard. By October 29, 1933, President Roosevelt had successfully centralized economic power within the executive branch, using the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to aggressively bid up the price of gold to devalue the dollar and reflate collapsing commodity prices. This "breakfast club" policy of daily price manipulation was historically significant because it shattered the global financial orthodoxy of the era, signaling to the world that the U.S. would prioritize domestic recovery and the relief of debt-burdened farmers over international exchange rate stability. While it sparked a "currency war" and drew fierce condemnation from fiscal conservatives who feared the "rubber dollar," this period of experimentation laid the essential groundwork for the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which ultimately fixed gold at $35 per ounce and fundamentally redefined the relationship between the federal government and the national economy for decades to come.
* The Gold Purchase Plan - Warren Experiment
* Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
* Prelude to the "Gold Reserve Act of 1934"
* President Franklin D. Roosevelt - FDR
The top of the front page has a three column headline: "ROOSEVELT DECIDES TO BUY GOLD IN WORLD'S MARKETS; RFC WILL MAKE PURCHASES" with subheads. (see images) Lengthy coverage continues inside.
Complete with all 36 pages, rag edition in nice condition.
Background: The transition to the Gold Purchase Plan in late October 1933 represents a pivotal shift in American economic sovereignty, marking the moment the United States decisively moved toward a managed currency and away from the rigid constraints of the classical gold standard. By October 29, 1933, President Roosevelt had successfully centralized economic power within the executive branch, using the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to aggressively bid up the price of gold to devalue the dollar and reflate collapsing commodity prices. This "breakfast club" policy of daily price manipulation was historically significant because it shattered the global financial orthodoxy of the era, signaling to the world that the U.S. would prioritize domestic recovery and the relief of debt-burdened farmers over international exchange rate stability. While it sparked a "currency war" and drew fierce condemnation from fiscal conservatives who feared the "rubber dollar," this period of experimentation laid the essential groundwork for the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which ultimately fixed gold at $35 per ounce and fundamentally redefined the relationship between the federal government and the national economy for decades to come.
Category: The 20th Century
