View source for Finance:British Empire Economic Conference

{{Short description|1932 meeting in Ottawa, Canada}}
{{Infobox summit meeting
| summit_name  = 1932 British Empire Economic Conference
| other_titles = Imperial Economic Conference
| image        = 
| alt          = 
| caption      = 
| country      = {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} {{wipe|Canada}}
| date         = {{nowrap|21 July 1932}}–<br />{{nowrap|18 August 1932}}
| venues       = House of Commons chamber, Parliament Hill
| cities       =[[Place:Ottawa|Ottawa]]
| participants = <!-- 8 (of 8 members) --> 9 
| heads_of_state_label = {{nowrap|Heads of State}} or Government
| heads_of_state =  
| chairperson  = R. B. Bennett<br>(Canadian Prime Minister)
| follows      =  1930
| precedes     = 1937
| keypoints    = Imperial preference, tariffs, monetary standards
}}
[[File:Canada-Stamp-1932-Ottawa Conference.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Postage stamp, Canada, 1932: commemorative overprint for Ottawa Conference.]]
The '''British Empire Economic Conference''' (also known as the '''Imperial Economic Conference''' or '''Ottawa Conference''') was a 1932 conference of British colonies and dominions held to discuss the [[Finance:Great Depression|Great Depression]]. It was held between 21 July and 20 August in [[Place:Ottawa|Ottawa]].

The conference saw the group admit the failure of the [[Chemistry:Gold standard|gold standard]] and abandon attempts to return to it. The meeting also worked to establish a zone of limited tariffs within the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]], but with high tariffs with the rest of the world. This was called "Imperial preference" or "Empire Free-Trade" on the principle of "home producers first, empire producers second, and foreign producers last". The result of the conference was a series of bilateral agreements that would last for at least 5 years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Imperial Economic Conference|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/283893/Imperial-Economic-Conference|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> 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 [[Finance:Keynesian economics|Keynesian]] ideas such as lowering [[Finance:Interest rate|interest rate]]s, increasing the money supply, and expanding government spending.

==Heads of delegations==

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:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Nation
! Name
! Portfolio
|-
| {{Country|Canada|1921}} 
| R. B. Bennett 
| Prime Minister (Chairman)
|-
| {{Country|Australia}}  
| Stanley Bruce
| Assistant Treasurer of Australia
|-
| {{flagcountry|British Raj}}
| Sir Atul Chandra Chatterjee
| Viceroy's representative
|-
| {{Country|Irish Free State}}  
| Seán T. O'Kelly
| Vice-President
|-
| {{flagicon|Newfoundland}} [[Finance:Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]
| Frederick C. Alderdice
| Prime Minister
|-
| {{Country|New Zealand}}  
| Gordon Coates
| Minister of Public Works, Minister in charge of Unemployment
|-
| {{Country|Southern Rhodesia}}  
| Howard Unwin Moffat
| Prime Minister
|-
| {{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} South Africa
| Nicolaas Havenga
| Finance Minister
|-
| {{Country|United Kingdom}}  
| Stanley Baldwin
| Lord President of the Council 
|}

== See also ==

* Import Duties Act 1932
* Imperial Conference

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{Commons}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071015041127/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744015,00.html British Empire Economic Conference], ''Time magazine'', 25 July 1932
* Barry Eichengreen and Douglas A. Irwin, "Trade blocs, currency blocs and the reorientation of world trade in the 1930s", ''[[Finance:Journal of International Economics|Journal of International Economics]]'', Volume 38, Issues 1–2, February 1995, Pages 1–24
* Robert A. MacKay, "Imperial Economics at Ottawa", ''Pacific Affairs'', Vol. 5, No. 10 (Oct. 1932), pp.&nbsp;873–885
* Maxwell Slutz Stewart, ''The Ottawa conference'', Foreign Policy Association, incorporated, 1932
* {{cite journal |title=Imperial Economic Conference, Ottawa, 1932. Summary of Proceedings. |journal=Journals of the House of Representatives |location=New Zealand |date=1932 |volume = Session I-II Appendix, A-06 |url=https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1932-I-II.2.1.2.5&cl=search&srpos=4&e=-------10--1------0IMPERIAL+CONFERENCE+1930-- }}


[[Category:Gold standard]]

{{Sourceattribution|British Empire Economic Conference}}