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The Gold Standard as a Rule

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Author Info
Michael D. Bordo
Finn E. Kydland

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Abstract

In this paper, we show that the monetary rule followed by a number of key countries, especially England and to a lesser extent the U. S., before 1914 represented a commitment technology preventing the monetary authorities from changing planned future policy. The experiences of these maj or countries suggest that the gold standard was intended as a contingent rule. By that, we mean, that the authorities could temporarily abandon the fixed price of gold during a wartime emergency on the understanding that convertibility at the original price of gold would be restored when the emergency passed. The experiences of other countries, however, suggest that the gold standard rule was often viewed more as a desirable goal than an operational constraint.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 3367.

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Date of creation: Jan 1996
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3367

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  2. Finn Kydland & Edward C. Prescott, 1980. "A Competitive Theory of Fluctuations and the Feasibility and Desirability of Stabilization Policy," NBER Chapters, in: Rational Expectations and Economic Policy, pages 169-198 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Barry Eichengreen, 1989. "Hegemonic Stability Theories of the International Monetary System," NBER Working Papers 2193, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Garber, Peter M. & Grilli, Vittorio U., 1986. "The Belmont-Morgan Syndicate as an optimal investment banking contract," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 649-677, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Barro, Robert J, 1979. "On the Determination of the Public Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 940-71, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Bordo, Michael D. & White, Eugene N., 1991. "A Tale of Two Currencies: British and French Finance During the Napoleonic Wars," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(02), pages 303-316, June. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Goodfriend, Marvin, 1988. "Central banking under the gold standard," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 85-124, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Barsky, Robert B & Summers, Lawrence H, 1988. "Gibson's Paradox and the Gold Standard," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(3), pages 528-50, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Redish, A., 1988. "The Evolution Of Thr Gold Standard In England," UBC Departmental Archives 88-36, UBC Department of Economics.
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  14. Michael D. Bordo & Eugene N. White, 1991. "British and French Finance During the Napoleonic Wars," NBER Working Papers 3517, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Kydland, Finn E. & Prescott, Edward C., 1980. "Dynamic optimal taxation, rational expectations and optimal control," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 79-91, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Prescott, Edward C., 1977. "Should control theory be used for economic stabilization?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 13-38, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  27. Cukierman, Alex, 1988. "Rapid inflation -- deliberate policy or miscalculation?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 11-75. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  33. Michael D. Bordo & Finn E. Kydland, 1996. "The Gold Standard as a Rule," NBER Working Papers 3367, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  34. Herschel I. Grossman, 1990. "The Political Economy of War Debts and Inflation," NBER Working Papers 2743, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Friedman, Milton, 1990. "Bimetallism Revisited," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 85-104, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  36. Michael D. Bordo, 1993. "The Bretton Woods International Monetary System: An Historical Overview," NBER Working Papers 4033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  37. Marvin Goodfriend, 1989. "Money, credit, banking and payments system policy," Working Paper 89-03, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Barry Eichengreen, 1993. "The Endogeneity of Exchange Rate Regimes," NBER Working Papers 4361, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Arthur J. Rolnick & Warren E. Weber, 1994. "Inflation, money, and output under alternative monetary standards," Staff Report 175, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  3. Rui Pedro Esteves, 2007. "Quis custodiet quem? Sovereign Debt and Bondholders' Protection Before 1914," Economics Series Working Papers 323, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Michael Bordo & Angela Redish, 1994. "Maximizing Seignorage Revenue During Temporary Suspensions of Convertibility: A Note," NBER Working Papers 4024, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Rui Pedro Esteves & Jaime Reis & Fabiano Ferramosca, 2007. "Market Integration in the Golden periphery The Lisbon/London Exchange, 1854-1891," Economics Series Working Papers 338, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Joseph G. Haubrich & Joseph A. Ritter, 1996. "Dynamic commitment and imperfect policy rules," Working Paper 9601, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Michael D. Bordo & Finn E. Kydland, 1992. "The gold standard as a rule," Working Paper 9205, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Maurice Obstfeld, 1993. "The Adjustment Mechanism," NBER Working Papers 3943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Joseph A. Ritter, 1994. "The transition from barter to fiat money," Working Papers 1994-004, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  10. Richard S. Grossman, 2006. "Other People’s Money: The Evolution of Bank Capital in the Industrialized World," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2006-020, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Anton Muscatelli, 1996. "Political Consensus, Uncertain Preferences and Central Bank Independence," Working Papers 9615, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow, revised Nov 1996.
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  12. Ben Bernanke & Harold James, 1990. "The Gold Standard, Deflation, and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression: An International Comparison," NBER Working Papers 3488, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Michael D. Bordo & Lars Jonung, 1996. "Monetary Regimes, Inflation And Monetary Reform: An Essay in Honor of Axel Leijonhufvud," Departmental Working Papers 199407, Rutgers University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Susanto Basu & Alan M. Taylor, 1999. "Business Cycles in International Historical Perspective," NBER Working Papers 7090, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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