The Gold Standard and Center-Periphery Interactions

The Gold Standard was an asymmetrical system, with different rules of the game for the Center and the Periphery. The periphery was for most of the time off the gold standard system, and effectively in an exchange-gold system. This paper will analyze the main effects of this hybrid system on the balance of payments adjustment mechanism of central and peripheral countries. It will be argued that the conventional wisdom that assumed a smooth and symmetrical adjustment of the balance of payments in the center and periphery is incorrect.