32 
IS THERE A REMEDY? 
A NOTE ON 
THE INCREASE IN THE VALUE OF STERLING 
IN TERMS OF FOREIGN MONEY 
Since it is often believed that the restoration of gold only, 
or chiefly, affects the sterling exchange with the United States, 
I give the following table of the change in the value of sterling 
since last June in the principal countries:— 
Percentage increase in the value of sterling 
(middle of July, 1925) since June, 1924: 
Italy - - 31 per cent. 
France - 27 „ „ 
Germany - 13 „ „ 
Japan - 13 „ „ 
United 
States - 12 ,, „ 
Czecho 
slovakia 12 „ „ 
Belgium - 12 per cent. 
Sweden - 11 ,, „ 
Brazil - 9 » » 
Holland - 5 *> >> 
China - 3 ,, ,, 
Switzerland 2 „ „ 
India - -6 „ „ 
Argentine —10 „ „ 
The movement in the opposite direction in India and the 
Argentine, though it increases the buying power of these 
countries as customers, does not help, in this context, because 
they are neither of them industrial competitors. The above 
table shows that the exchange movements of the last year have 
worsened Great Britain’s competitive position with her chief 
industrial rivals by 12 per cent, or more. Thus the figure 
of 10 per cent, which I have used in the text understates the 
case.