The world economy has experienced a cycle of globalisation, de-globalisation and re-globalisation since 1850. In each period, there has been a trade-off between various policies: fixed exchange rates, capital mobility, labour movement and free trade, and their international and domestic consequences. This essay establishes an analytical framework for understanding these trade-offs in the case of Britain, and proceeds to consider the choices made between 1850 and 1914. A case is made that the gold standard and fixed exchange rates secured widespread domestic support, and that they were not imposed by financial interests at the expense of domestic considerations.