1952 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Economic Conference

The 1952 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Economic Conference was an emergency meeting of heads of government of the British Commonwealth, called by the British government of Sir Winston Churchill and held in the United Kingdom in December 1952. It followed a Commonwealth Finance Minister's conference from January 1952 and took place amid British economic and military decline and the rising global role of the United States. The principal topic was the convertibility of pound sterling into American dollars, with British concerns that non-sterling Commonwealth countries were building up sterling balances to convert them into dollars. Little was accomplished in economic discussions; the final communique was described as an agreement in platitudes. The conference also addressed British exclusion from the ANZUS military treaty and agreed on a flexible approach to the royal style and title of Queen Elizabeth II, who was proclaimed Head of the Commonwealth.