Gold Purchase Plan

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GOLD PURCHASE PLAN

GOLD PURCHASE PLAN, formulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's financial adviser, George F. Warren, and sometimes referred to as the Warren Plan, was put into operation in October 1933 and ended in January 1934. Under this plan the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was authorized to buy gold newly mined in the United States and, if necessary, on the world markets at prices to be determined from time to time after consultation with the president and the secretary of the treasury. The theory of the Gold Purchase Plan, apparently, was to bring about an increase in the domestic commodity price level by raising the price of gold. In this respect it was a failure.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Friedman, Milton, and Anna Jacobson Schwartz. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963.

Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

Frederick A.Bradford/a. g.

See alsoBanking: Banking Crisis of 1933 ; Federal Reserve System ; Gold Exchange ; Gold Standard ; Hard Money .