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Besides the Earl of Cromer, whose voice is powerful at home, Britain has two expert moneymen in Sir Denis Rickett, 57, the tall, urbane Second Secretary of the Treasury, and Maurice Parsons, 54, executive director of the Bank of England, who regularly attends the Paris Club meetings. France's self-appointed chief moneyman is, of course, none other than Charles de Gaulle, whose strong views and pronouncements have overshadowed Bank of France Governor Jacques Brunet, 54, and to some extent Valery Giscard d'Estaing, 39, the bright and ambitious Finance Minister. France can also claim the most prestigious post in international monetary affairs: the managing directorship of the IMF. The post is held by Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, 52, the patrician-born, self-effacing former French civil servant who helped nurse the franc to its post-1958 stability.
Strong Loyalty. Despite their widely varying personalities and the differences in government policies, the men who manage the world's money have in common a strong loyalty to the system and a determination to keep it running. Virtually none of them agree with Charles de Gaulle's call for a return to the gold standard or want a rise in the price of gold. Despite De Gaulle, even the French have been remarkably consistent in going along with the spirit of international monetary cooperation. Some moneymen feared before last week's meetings that this time might prove an exception, but the French readily agreed to the new aid for Britain. For all this loyalty, however, none of the international monetary men want to stand pat with the system as it is. Practically all of them concede the need for continued improvement—and some of them have made specific proposals for reform (TIME, April 16). They realize, after all, that the history of man's monetary dealings, from the tortoise shell to the Eurodollar, prove that only change can assure continued vitality.