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Credible Commitment and Exchange Rate Stability: Canada's Interwar Experience

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  • Michael D. Bordo
  • Angela Redish

Abstract

In 1929, the Canadian government floated the exchange rate, which stayed at parity with sterling until 1931, when the Canadian dollar appreciated with respect to sterling and depreciated with respect to the U.S. dollar. This paper uses Robert J. Barro and David B. Gordon's reputation theory to explain the stability of the Canadian dollar before 1931 and the subsequent depreciation/appreciation. Econometric analysis is then used to support the argument that between 1931 and 1933 the level of the exchange rate was determined by expectations of a return to parity with either sterling or the U.S. dollar.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael D. Bordo & Angela Redish, 1990. "Credible Commitment and Exchange Rate Stability: Canada's Interwar Experience," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 357-380, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:23:y:1990:i:2:p:357-80
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Choudhri, Ehsan U & Kochin, Levis A, 1980. "The Exchange Rate and the International Transmission of Business Cycle Disturbances: Some Evidence from the Great Depression," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 12(4), pages 565-574, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bordo, Michael D. & Meissner, Christopher M., 2023. "Original sin and the great depression," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    2. tattara, Giuseppe, 1995. "Bilancia dei pagamenti, movimenti dei capitali ed equilibrio interno nei primi 50 anni del regno d'Italia [Balance of payments, capital movements, domestic equilibrium in the first 50 years of the ," MPRA Paper 39086, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Tattara, Giuseppe, 2003. "Paper money but a gold debt: Italy on the gold standard," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 122-142, April.
    4. Michael D. Bordo & Christopher M. Meissner, 2015. "Growing Up to Stability? Financial Globalization, Financial Development and Financial Crises," NBER Working Papers 21287, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. James MacGee & Chris Hajzler, 2012. "Retail Price Differences across U.S. and Canadian Cities during the Interwar Period," 2012 Meeting Papers 1126, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Angela Redish & Olga Marcela Namen, 2012. "Central Banks: Past, Present, Future," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 30(67), pages 14-35, July.
    7. Ehsan U. Choudhri & Lawrence L. Schembri, 2013. "A Tale of Two Countries and Two Booms, Canada and the United States in the 1920s and the 2000s: The Roles of Monetary and Financial Stability Policies," Working Paper series 44_13, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    8. Michael Bordo & Tamara Gomes & Lawrence Schembri, 2010. "Canada and the IMF: Trailblazer or Prodigal Son?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 309-333, April.
    9. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 2010. "The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 871-897, December.
    10. Pedro Amaral & James C. MacGee, 2002. "The Great Depression in Canada and the United States: A Neoclassical Perspective," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(1), pages 45-72, January.
    11. Michael D. Bordo, 1993. "The gold standard, Bretton Woods and other monetary regimes: a historical appraisal," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Mar, pages 123-191.
    12. Rockoff, Hugh & White, Eugene N., 2012. "Monetary Regimes and Policy on a Global Scale: The Oeuvre of Michael D. Bordo," MPRA Paper 49672, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised May 2013.
    13. Michael D. Bordo & Christopher Meissner & Angela Redish, 2003. "How "Original Sin" was Overcome: The Evolution of External Debt Denominated in Domestic Currencies in the United States and the British Dominions," NBER Working Papers 9841, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Michael D. Bordo & Anna J. Schwartz, 1994. "The Specie Standard as a Contingent Rule: Some Evidence for Core and Peripheral Countries, 1880-1990," NBER Working Papers 4860, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Sabaté, Marcela & Fillat, Carmen & Escario, Regina, 2019. "Budget deficits and money creation: Exploring their relation before Bretton Woods," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 38-56.

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