In A Tract on Monetary Reform, which was first published in 1923, British economist John Maynard Keynes argues that the objects of British government should be the stability of trade, price, and employment. The gold reserve should be demonetized. However, this does not mean that gold serves absolutely no purpose anymore. Rather, it is a store of value and a means of correcting the influence of a temporarily adverse balance of payment.

“This is a very brilliant as well as a very important book. Like all that Mr. Keynes writers, it is full of matter, and also full of wit…If any argument were wanted to show that whether we like it or not, we must tackle the monetary problem, it is to be found in Mr. Keynes’s book. It is a bright light, and though it may, if misused, do harm to the eyesight of some people, it throws a light, and a true light, on the world’s dilemma.”—The Spectator