The Bellagio Group was founded by Fritz Machlup, William Fellner and Robert Triffin at a time of global economic crisis not unlike the one we face today. With its original network of thirty-two economists, it was the forerunner of the current Group of Thirty. The Bellagio Group comprised academics, policy makers, bankers and corporate leaders, who worked together with the aim of economic reform. Machlup, Fellner and Triffin led the Group in their attempts to identify the connecting principles between geopolitical, currency, business and social issues facing economies in the aftermath of the Second World War. Between 1964 and 1977 the Bellagio Group were instrumental in bringing together academics with leaders from the public and private sectors in a series of influential conferences. These meetings involved the most important economists in the world and focused on banking practices, as well as mechanisms to increase economic growth. This collection brings together the private correspondence and published papers of the Bellagio Group's founders to create a vivid picture of the personalities, issues, debates and compromises that led to the adoption of flexible exchange rates and a modified Triffin plan. The first three volumes are each devoted to the letters and unpublished papers of Machlup, Triffin and Fellner. The final two volumes focus on the conferences and publications of the Bellagio Group founders from 1963-1977.
Volume 1: Fritz Machlup The Gold Standard, the Transfer Problem and Europe after WWI, 1930-1940 'The Critics of the Goldstandard'; 'Gold as a Factor in International Peace', typescript (1930s); 'Dollars without Cents', handwritten speech (1930s); Speech on credit control, handwritten speech (partial) (1930s); 'The Theory of Interest', handwritten speech (1930s); 'What Are the Right Foreign Exchange Rates?' handwritten speech (1930s); 'The Transfer Discussion in the Light of Recent Experience', handwritten speech (1935 November 11); 'Up-Hill Race: Leading and Trailing Nations in the World Recovery', typescript (c.1936); 'Austria as the Pawn of Europe', speech (1936 February 12); 'The Stock Exchange as a Gauge of Credit Policy and a Regulator of Investment', paper, round table (1937 December 29); 'The Influence of Security Market Regulation upon Fluctuations of Investment', American Economic Association, typewritten abstract and correspondence with Ray Bert Westerfield; 'Our Buried Gold', KGO Radio talk, notes and typescript (1940 August 7) Restoring American Prosperity After WWII and the Theory of Foreign Exchange, 1945-1948 Financing American Prosperity, Paul T Homan and Fritz Machlup, eds., typewritten statement for Twentieth Century Fund (1945); 'The Effects of Government Spending upon Employment', handwritten and typewritten outline (1945 September 24). 'Some Aspects of Full Employment Policy', Typescript and correspondence with J. J. Gonzales-Gorrondona (c.1947); 'What's Best for the Competitive Enterprise System?', panel participation, Economic Institute on Delivered Pricing and the Future of American Business, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Washington, D.C., typescript and clipping (1948 December 10) Balance of Payments, International Trade and Economic Development, 1949-1956 'Three Concepts of the Balance of Payments', paper, International Monetary Fund Seminar, Washington, D.C., typewritten outline (1949 October 21); 'The Elasticity Argument for Foreign Exchange Restrictions', remarks, International Trade Meeting, Econometric Society, holograph and typewritten abstract (1949 December 28); 'Equilibrium in International Trade', series of five speeches, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland, notes (1951 January 29-31 and February 1-2);. 'Replies by Economists' in Monetary Policy and the Management of the Public Debt, United States Congress, Joint Committee on the Economic Report, Subcommittee on General Credit Control and Debt Management, typescript, with printed copy of questions (1952); Typescript entitled 'Problems of Exchange Rates and Convertibility'; 'Paradoxes in Economic Development', Notes for speech? (1955 November 3); 'The Finance of Development in Poor Countries: Foreign Capital and Domestic Inflation', Economic Studies Quarterly (Kikan Riron Keizaigaku), notes and typescript (1956); 'Comment on E M Bernstein's 'Strategic Factors in Balance of Payments Adjustments', Conference on International Economics, Universities-National Bureau Committee for Economic Research, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton, New Jersey, typescript and correspondence, including paper by Edward M Bernstein (1956 April 14) Reform of the International Monetary System, 1962-1969 'Proposals for Reform of the International Monetary System', in Factors Affecting the United States Balance of Payments, prepared for the United States Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Subcommittee on International Exchange and Payments, (1962); 'Hypothetical Projections and Hypothetical Projects', in The United States Balance of Payments: Statements on The Brookings Institution Study 'The United States Balance of Payments in 1968, submitted to the United States Congress, Joint Economic Committee, (1963), typescript; 'Central Bank Policy: Foreign and Domestic Assets', Research material, typescript, and comments by E. J. Kane (1963 July); 'The Reasons for Divergent Prescription