British Empire Economic Conference

The conference saw the group admit the failure of the gold standard and abandon attempts to return to it.

The result of the conference was a series of bilateral agreements that would last for at least 5 years.

[1] This abandonment of open free trade led to a split in the British National Government coalition: the Official Liberals under Herbert Samuel left the Government, but the National Liberals under Sir John Simon remained.

The conference was especially notable for its adoption of Keynesian ideas such as lowering interest rates, increasing the money supply, and expanding government spending.

[2] The conference was hosted by the Governor General of Canada, The Earl of Bessborough, representing King George V and included the Prime Ministers and other leaders of the Empire and members of their respective cabinets:

Postage stamp, Canada, 1932: commemorative overprint for Ottawa Conference.