British Empire Economic Conference

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The British Empire Economic Conference was a 1932 conference of British colonies and the autonomous dominions held to discuss the Great Depression. It was held between July 21 and August 20 in Ottawa, Canada.

The conference saw the group admit the failure of the gold standard and abandon attempts to return to it. The meeting also worked to establish a zone of limited tariffs within the British Empire, but with high tariffs with the rest of the world. This came to be known was called "Imperial" or "Empire Free-Trade." This abandonment of open free trade led to a split in the British government.

The conference was especially notable for its adoption of Keynesian ideas such as lowering interest rates, increasing the money supply, and expanding government spending.