ABSTRACT
T h e 1949 debate on whe ther to devalue the pound was succeeded wi th in eighteen mon ths by proposals to revalue it upwards and these in tu rn , a year later, by a furious controversy wi th in the government over a plan to make the pound convertible and let i t float downwards . In these debates, which were the outcome of events unforeseen at the t ime of devaluation, there were some curious somersaults in opinion, the Economic Section defending a fixed rate while the Bank of England and the official Treasury took the other side and favoured a floating pound .
