上世纪80年代美国里根总统上任初期，对货币金本位制的回归突然被新一届总统班底提上讨论日程，以表达对当时美元主权货币系统脆弱性的担心。尽管金本位的回归很快被主流经济学家所否定，一些对20世纪初金本位制如何逐渐退出历史舞台的讨论重新进入大众视野。

本文正是针对当时美国经济学界的讨论，美联储经济学家JOHN H. WOOD对一战后期英格兰回归金本位制失败的历史事件的回顾，使我们能够全面了解金本位制的优势还有其绕不过的致命缺陷——通货紧缩所带来的灾难性后果。当然正如文章开头所说，美国和法国对英国金本位制的不认同也对英国尝试的失败起到了关键性作用。

It is ironic that most of the recent agitation for a return to some form of gold standard has come from the United States, whose official policies played a leading role in the destruction of that standard. After describing the conduct of governments necessary for the successful operation of a gold standard, this article tells the story of the failure of the post-World War I attempt by the British to restore the pre-1914 monetary system—an attempt doomed to failure by the refusal of the United States and France to play by the rules of the gold standard game.

Ref: https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/economic-perspectives/1981/ep-nov-dec1981-part2-wood