User:Taylordw/sandbox/Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague (22 April 1873 - 24 May 1953), professionally referenced as O.M.W. Sprague in publications, was a professor at Harvard Business School specializing in banking, monetary economics and financial crises. He played an important role in the debate over the Federal Reserve Act. Though he opposed the creation of a U.S. central bank, he wrote an important government report, History of Crises under the National Banking System (1910) for the National Monetary Commission. The study remains a classic in the field today. He was appointed an advisor to Treasury Secretary William Woodin in 1933, but resigned after only a few months over disagreements with the Roosevelt administration over currency policies of the New Deal.

Early life
He attended secondary school at St. Johnsbury Academy.

The Depression of the 1930s and the New Deal
He was the chief economic adviser to the Bank of England from 1930 to 1933. He served as a member of the Gold Delegation of the League of Nations.

President Roosevelt had taken courses with Sprague at Harvard. Owing in part to Sprague's experience as adviser to the Bank of England, he was appointed by Roosevelt as a special adviser to the Treasury. His assignment was to stabilize the sterling-dollar exchange rate and help represent the United States at the London Economic Conference. On 22 May 1933 Treasury Secretary Woodin took Sprague to the White House to meet with the President, Federal Reserve Chairman Eugene Black and Undersecretary of the Treasury Dean Acheson. The next day the announcement of the appointment was made.

Works by Sprague

 * Books


 * Academic journal articles


 * Newspaper articles