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Why didn't France follow the British stabilisation after World War I?

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  • BORDO, MICHAEL D.
  • HAUTCOEUR, PIERRE-CYRILLE

Abstract

We show that, because the cost of the war had been so high in France, the size of the French public debt, the budget deficit and the monetary overhang made it impossible to stabilise immediately after World War I, even on the anti-Keynesian assumption that a stabilisation would have had no negative effects on income. The reason for the immediate postwar inflation was then not mismanaged policy but a wise choice in the French context; nevertheless, a stabilisation was historically possible from early 1924, and it would most likely have benefited not only France but the entire international monetary system.

Suggested Citation

  • Bordo, Michael D. & Hautcoeur, Pierre-Cyrille, 2007. "Why didn't France follow the British stabilisation after World War I?," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 3-37, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:ereveh:v:11:y:2007:i:01:p:3-37_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Eric M. Leeper & Todd B. Walker, 2012. "Perceptions and Misperceptions of Fiscal Inflation," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, pages 255-299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Leeper, E.M. & Leith, C., 2016. "Understanding Inflation as a Joint Monetary–Fiscal Phenomenon," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2305-2415, Elsevier.
    3. Gardner, Leigh, 2015. "The curious incident of the franc in the Gambia: exchange rate instability and imperial monetary systems in the 1920s," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 291-314, December.
    4. Michael D. Bordo & Mickey D. Levy, 2021. "Do enlarged fiscal deficits cause inflation? The historical record," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 59-83, February.
    5. Campbell Leith & Eric Leeper, 2016. "Understanding Inflation as a Joint Monetary-Fiscal Phenomenon," Working Papers 2016_01, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    6. Antoine Parent & Pierre-Charles Pradier, 2022. "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu : Legal and Quantitative analysis of the First Documented Option Market - Paris 1844-1939," SciencePo Working papers Main halshs-03815575, HAL.
    7. Kirsten Wandschneider & Nikolaus Wolf, 2010. "Shooting on a moving target: explaining European bank rates during the interwar period," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1/2), pages 31-48.
    8. Michael D. Bordo, 2017. "An Historical Perspective on the Quest for Financial Stability and the Monetary Policy Regime," Economics Working Papers 17108, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
    9. Michael D. Bordo & Mickey D. Levy, 2020. "Do Enlarged Fiscal Deficits Cause Inflation: The Historical Record," NBER Working Papers 28195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. 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.

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