When Economists "Tell Histories": the Truncated Story of Central Banks' Cooperation over the Bimetallic Period ; Wenn Wirtschaftswissenschaftler 'Geschichten' erzählen: Die verkürzte Geschichte der Kooperation der Zentralbanken über die bimetallische Periode

Abstract

In this article, the author assesses the meaning of the controversies about the French and British central banks' solidarity over the bimetallic period (1850-1870). Her purpose is to highlight how historical case studies can become the instrument of a distorted economic view. In the main stream literature, the argument of the discount rates correlation is turned into rivalry between the two issuing institutions. This view omits the reading of Bimetallism as a coordinated discount rate policy of the French and British central banks and supports bimetallism as a self-equilibrating system.