The Bullion Committee was a British government committee set up in 1819 in order to research the possibility of putting Britain back onto the
gold standard
A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
and how to carry it out.
Sir Robert Peel was the chairman of the committee. He managed to put
sterling on the gold standard two years earlier than planned. Other members were
David Ricardo
David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...
and
Jeremiah Harman Esq.
The effects of the return to the gold standard were not without controversy. Industrialists complained that full employment had been sacrificed to sound money.
Thomas Attwood claimed 'Peels Act' created 'more misery, more poverty, more discord, more of everything that was calamitous to the nation, except death, than Attila caused in the Roman Empire'.
See also
Bank Restriction Act 1797
The Bank Restriction Act 1797 (37 Geo. 3. c. 45) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which removed the requirement for the Bank of England to convert banknotes into gold. The period lasted until 1821, when convertibil ...
References
Economic history of the United Kingdom
Gold standard
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