Noting that it is Thornton, not Ricardo, who is the originator of the classical analysis of the gold points mechanism, this paper shows that Ricardo rejected this mechanism. This is done by considering his criticism of the causal link between deficits, the exchange rate and the price of gold. The paper first emphasizes Thornton's analysis of the links between gold points, bank risk and the high price of bullion. It is then shown how far Ricardo is led astray in his criticism of Thornton and his explanation of the high price of bullion and of the exchange market.Bank risk, bullionist controversy, gold points, Horner, Ricardo, Thornton,

The aim of this paper is to analyze the state of the quantity theory in the United States prior to the publication of Irving Fisher’s The Purchasing Power of Money in 1911. We start by presenting the participants in the monetary debate. Next, we analyze the controversies regarding prices, purchasing power of money, and credit, prior to the Gold Standard Act of 1900, in particular the opposing views of Francis Amasa Walker and James Laurence Laughlin. We then go on to study of the restatement of the quantity theory at the beginning of the twentieth century, through the introduction of credit in the analysis and the statistical tests of the exchange equations. Finally, we study the problems and management of the gold standard, focusing on the elasticity of money supply, the characteristics of the gold exchange standard, and the contrast between the fixed price of gold and its fluctuating purchasing power. We show the improvement of the quantity theory and the new issues that emerged from the rich and original American monetary debate, prior to the publication in 1911 of Fisher’s book.

Résumé Il y a non pas une approche classique du prêteur en dernier ressort, mais des approches classiques du prêteur en dernier ressort. Elles sont successivement développées par Baring, Thornton, la Banking School, Bagehot et Hawtrey. Si ces approches convergent pour souligner que le prêteur en dernier ressort n’intervient qu’en faveur de banques illiquides mais solvables, elles divergent à propos du lien entre monnaie et crédit, de la politique du taux d’escompte, dans l’analyse des causes de son intervention et sur la nature de ce qu’il prête. En outre, Hawtrey a développé les bases de l’analyse du prêteur en dernier ressort international.

In 1911, Fisher published The Purchasing Power of Money. In chapter 13 of the first edition and in an appendix in the second section of 1913, he introduced a rule to maintain the stability of the level of prices, known as the "compensated dollar". According to this rule, the legal definition of money is changed. (...

Résumé Contrairement à une opinion répandue, ce n’est pas Ricardo qui a développé la théorie des points d’or, mais Thornton. Il le fait en complément de sa théorie du prêteur en dernier ressort en vue de justifier la suspension des paiements et d’expliquer le haut prix du lingot. Ricardo, par contre, a rejeté le mécanisme des points d’or, et lui a opposé la théorie humienne du mécanisme prix-flux d’espèces. L’enjeu pour Ricardo était de montrer que le haut prix du lingot était la conséquence nécessaire d’un excès de monnaie. Nous analysons ses arguments.