This book brings together a study of the devaluation of 1931 prepared by Eichengreen with studies of the devaluations of 1949 and 1967 prepared by Cairncross. The decision to join forces had led to revision and expansio of these studies, to a consideration of the common features of the three devaluations, and to an effort to view these three episodes in the light of subsequent developments. We have aimed to provide a comparative analysis of the three devaluations. We have not sought to write an economic history of the past half-century in terms of successive exchange crises occurring at 18-year intervals. Nor have we attempted to review exhaustively theories of exchange rates and their relation to the balance of payments or to advance theories of our own. Nevertheless, we hope that our analysis of these three devaluations of sterling will be of value in a world where exchange rate changes are so frequently the subject of attention.

这本书汇集了艾森格林研究在1949年和1967年的货币贬值。还有凯恩克罗斯的相关研究，他们的共同特点是货币贬值，并努力着从后续观望。我们的目的是提供一个三次贬值的分析。我们没有试图写一部经济史。就过去半个世纪以来接连发生的外汇危机而言，间隔18年。我们也没有试图详尽地回顾，汇率及其与国际收支或垫款的关系。从自己的理论出发。我们希望我们对这三个问题的分析，在一个汇率变动的世界里，英镑贬值是有价值的，并且变化常常是人们关注的话题。