Volcker Paul A. - The power of gold: the history of an obsession

For Barbara, once again and always.

They wonder much to hear that gold, which in itself is so useless a thing, should be everywhere so much esteemed, that even men for whom it was made, and by whom it has its value, should yet be thought of less value than it is.

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). Utopia ofJewels and Wealth

True enough, but writing history is also hard work. It involves organizing masses of facts-many of them unfamiliar-into a coherent story, developing ideas that bear some logical relationship to the facts, and communicating the results in a fashion that will interest more people than just the writer. As a result, the task cannot be a solitary one. I know whereof I speak.

The first of my acknowledgments goes to my wife, Barbara, who is also my business partner. Her contribution to this book was significant on all levels. Her many positive suggestions, her equally valuable criticisms, her diligent editing, and her unfailing inspiration were all essential to the completion of the task. It never would have happened without her.

This book was my third partnership with my editor, Peter Dougherty. Peter creates a unique intellectual adventure that is challenging, exciting, and great fun. He has once again showed me how to transform a heap of jumbled ideas into a coherent whole. His brilliant insights, his ready grasp of the subject matter, and his total commitment as friend and guide to this project are visible on every page. He is the editor that all writers wish for, and I can only hope that the future holds many more of these stimulating and rewarding opportunities to work with him.

Charles Kindleberger, my great friend and comrade-at-arms in World War II, became indefatigably engaged in this work from the very beginning. His generosity to me was boundless. He provided inestimable guidance to research sources and shared his own research materials and notes without stint. He was tireless in supplying suggestions, criticisms, and fresh viewpoints. He showered the full benefit of his extraordinary knowledge of economic and financial history upon every part of the manuscript. It was a rare privilege to have him as mentor and intellectual companion.

I was also most fortunate in having Richard Sylla's bountiful assistance from beginning to end. Dick's authoritative criticisms and recommendations provided many significant improvements to the book by protecting me from oversimplifications in interpretation and omissions of essential facts.

Throughout the entire process, Edward Klagsbrun's counsel and support were essential in enabling Barbara and me to keep our eye on the ball.

Myles Thompson deserves my gratitude for his unremitting enthusiasm, editorial assistance, and important support, as well as many valuable suggestions about the content and development of the undertaking.

Three friends and colleagues were also kind enough to read the full manuscript. My two-time co-author and great friend, Robert Heilbroner, as so often in the past, gave me the benefit of his historical expertise, his deep understanding of economics, and his great talent for literary quality. Peter Brodsky led me to important clarifications in areas that suffered from undue fuzziness in the early drafts. Elliott Howard drew my attention to a long list of flaws and offered helpful comments on the subject of gold.

The team at Wiley under JeffBrown's confident leadership went to the limit on our behalf, with enthusiasm, skill, and gracious responsiveness to our needs. In addition to Jeff, this group included, in alphabetical order, Sylvia Coates, Mary Daniello, Peter Knapp, Livia Llewellyn, Meredith McGinnis, Joan O'Neil, Lori Sayde-Mehrtens, and Jennifer Wilkin.

Everett Sims's conscientious editing has added polish, grace, and clarity to many rough edges. I am also grateful to Ev for proposing that I should write a book about gold. Although there were many moments when I wished I had not listened to him, I am confident that no other topic would have captured my interest as this one has.

I was fortunate to work with a group of skillful, imaginative, and indefatigable research assistants. They saved me many hours of labor and made useful contributions at the same time. Here they are, in the sequence in which they served: Michelle Lee, Susan Cohen, Steven Sherrifs, Betsy Wallen, and Linda Chang. Our business associate, Barbara Fotinatos, saw to it that the project kept moving along, not least by contributing her expert guidance in the language and habits of the Greeks.

I am pleased to express special gratitude to Andrew Freeman, who arranged for the staff of The Economist in London to permit Barbara and me to spend several hours in the privacy of their Directors' Room reading issues of their invaluable publication from the 1920s and 1930s. As readers will note in Chapters 17 and 18, this fascinating material brought the times to life as nothing else could have.

The following people also provided significant assistance along the way and deserve my warmest thanks: Barbara Boehm, Ulla BuchnerHoward, Mike Clowes, Barclay Douglas, Hans Falkena, Rob Ferguson, Benjamin Friedman, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, James Howell, Henry Hu, Steve Jones, Dwight Keating, Leora Klapper, Benjamin Levene, Richard Rogalski, Paul Samuelson, Ronald Sobel, and Gentaro Yura.

Convention dictates that the author relieves all of the above from any responsibility for errors that may remain in the manuscript. Charlie Kindleberger decries this convention, pointing out that the author, after all, depended on the authority of these individuals in preparing the work and should not be expected to check out the accuracy of their suggestions. The quality of the assistance I have received on this occasion assures me that, just for once, Charlie is mistaken. All errors that remain in the manuscript are mine. May we hope that they are few and far between.

P. L. B.

A METAL FOR ALL SEASONS

THE PATH TO TRIUMPH

THE DESCENT FROM GLORY