The rise and fall of sterling in Liberia, 1847-1943
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3308745 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leigh Gardner (0000-0001-8638-5121, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author), Leigh A Gardner (London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1089-1112 |
| Publication date | 2014-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-0289.12042 |
| OpenAlex | W1906577929 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 63 |
Recent research on exchange rate regime choice in developing countries has revealed that a range of factors, from weak fiscal institutions to high costs of borrowing in their own currencies, limits the range of options available to these countries. This article uses the case of Liberia to illustrate that new states in Africa during the gold standard era faced similar limitations, even in the absence of formal colonial rule. The rapid depreciation of the Liberian dollar in the nineteenth century led to the adoption of sterling as a medium of exchange and store of value. This initially made it easier for Liberia to service its sterling-denominated debt and for Liberians to purchase imports from Britain. However, as economic relations with the US deepened during the twentieth century, instability in the pound-dollar exchange rate created serious dislocations in the Liberian economy, ultimately leading to the official adoption of the US dollar in 1943. The story of Liberia illustrates the long-standing challenges of globalization for peripheral economies and suggests the need for a reassessment of the origins and impact of colonial monetary regimes
Debt · Depreciation (economics) · Economics · Economy · Exchange rate · International economics · Liberian dollar · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Monetary economics · Pound Sterling · Us dollar · Economic Theory and Policy · Finance · Global Financial Crisis and Policies · Monetary Policy and Economic Impact
Freed slave colonies in West Africa
The Decline of Sterling
Fear of Floating
States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control
Financial Missionaries to the World
The economic irrelevance of monetary independence
Africa since 1940
Globalizing Capital
The Making of National Money
Credible Currency
A Note on the Liberian Archives
The Economic History of Liberia
Foreign Relations of the United States
Seigniorage and the Case for a National Money
History, Politics, and Economic Development in Liberia
Liberia
The British Colonial Currency System
Reluctant Imperialists
The Creation of a Colonial Monetary System
From Currency Board to Central Banking
Taxing Colonial Africa
The Liberian Coasting Trade, 1822–1900
Writing Histories of Contemporary Africa
Foreign banks, Africans, and credit in colonial Nigeria, c. 1890‐1912
Liberia and the Atlantic World in the Nineteenth Century
The Evolution of African Monetary Institutions
The Kru Mariner in the Nineteenth Century
The Modern Dual Economy-a cost-benefit analysis of Liberia
Liberia
The Mirage of Exchange Rate Regimes for Emerging Market Countries
The Monetary Dimensions of Colonialism
Black Colonialism
The emergence of a US multinational enterprise
Money on the road to empire
Between Silver and Guano
Foreign Relations of the United States. Diplomatic Papers, 1938
Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States 1924
The Anatomy of an Investment
Bankers in West Africa
Bitter Canaan
Black Imperialism
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,55 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2023 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |