The Money Doctor Raimundo Fernández Villaverde and the Classical Gold Standard in Spain

This paper focuses on the Money Doctor Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, a prominent politician during the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in Spain during the Classical Gold Standard period. He reformed the fiscal system and proposed monetary reforms to transition Spain to the Gold Standard after the 1898 Cuban War of Independence. His monetary reform ultimately failed due to two primary reasons. Firstly, there was a lack of political consensus, as politicians were more inclined to prioritise the distribution of spoils to sustain unstable alliances forged by local political leaders and their clientelist networks, rather than focusing on the development of long-term policies aimed at achieving party political goals. Secondly, the resistance from the Bank of Spain to reduce the circulation of banknotes to deflate the economy, with the aim of preserving its profits as a private institution that distributed dividends to its shareholders, took precedence over its role as the guarantor of exchange rate stability.