American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold by Edwards Sebastian

Author:Edwards, Sebastian [Edwards, Sebastian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2018-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

THE FOURTH FIRESIDE CHAT

On Sunday October 22, the president delivered his fourth Fireside Chat. He opened by summarizing his administration’s accomplishments. He talked about public works and the legislation passed during the Hundred Days; he praised the National Recovery Act and the AAA; and he told the American public that things were improving. He asserted that since Inauguration four million people had found work. He reiterated that the definite goal of the government was to “restore commodity price levels, [and] to make possible the payment of public and private debts more nearly at the price level at which they were incurred.” With regard to currency values, he stated that “when we have restored the price level, we shall seek to establish and maintain a dollar which will not change its purchasing and debt-paying power during the succeeding generation.” It was important, he asserted, not to put the cart before the horse. 7

He said that his government was building an “edifice of recovery” with many columns, and that “the work on all of them must proceed without let or hindrance.” 8 He then declared that one of these columns, monetary policy, was less developed than the others and that it was time to strengthen it.

Towards the end of the presentation, the president said that in order to raise prices he was adopting a new policy: he was establishing a market for gold in the United States. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) would buy newly minted gold at prices determined after consultation with the secretary of the treasury and the president. If needed, the RFC would also buy and sell gold in the world market at these prices. It was important, the president declared, that people understood clearly what he was doing: “This is a policy and not an expedient. It is not to be used merely to offset a temporary fall in prices. We are thus continuing to move toward a managed currency.” 9

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