Abstract (EN)

This paper traces R. G. Hawtrey’s main contributions to the theory of the lender of last resort national both (LLR) and international (ILLR). This theory is a continuation of one of the traditions of the classical period, started by Henry Thornton (1802) , that differs in important points from Walter Bagehot’s (1873) . (Cf. Laidler 2003 et de Boyer and Solis 2003). In their treatment of the classical concepts the authors partly depart from the interpretation of Thomas M. Humphrey (1975, 1984, 1989 and 1992) who considers that Thornton and Bagehot have basically the same approach about LLR. Hawtrey renewed Thonton’s views extending the concepts to new problems, including the ILLR. Hawtrey built a model of LLR in a dynamic macroeconomic model that includes the Cambridge market for cash balance and it introduces the bases of a theory of ILLR, describing the sequence of twin crisis, exchange and banking crisis, thus explaining the difficulties for an ILLR to act on the currency market without taking the risks involved, in a situation completely different to the one faced on the money market by the national LLR.