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On the Origins of "A Monetary History"

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  • Hugh Rockoff

Abstract

This paper explores some of the scholarship that influenced Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz's "A Monetary History". It shows that the ideas of several Chicago economists -- Henry Schultz, Henry Simons, Lloyd Mints, and Jacob Viner -- left clear marks. It argues, however, that the most important influence may have been Wesley Clair Mitchell and his classic book "Business Cycles" (1913). Mitchell, and the NBER, provided the methodology for "A Monetary History", in particular the emphasis on compiling long time series of monthly data and analyzing the effects of specific variables on the business cycle. A common methodology and the stability of monetary relationships produced similar conclusions about money. Friedman and Schwartz deemphasized Mitchell's "bank-centric" view of the monetary transmission process, but they reinforced Mitchell's conclusion that money had an independent, predictable, and important influence on the business cycle.

Suggested Citation

  • Hugh Rockoff, 2006. "On the Origins of "A Monetary History"," NBER Working Papers 12666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12666
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    Cited by:

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    2. James R. Lothian & George S. Tavlas, 2018. "How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(4), pages 757-787, June.
    3. Joseph T. Salerno, 2023. "Milton Friedman’s Views on Method and Money Reconsidered in Light of the Housing Bubble," Springer Books, in: David Howden & Philipp Bagus (ed.), The Emergence of a Tradition: Essays in Honor of Jesús Huerta de Soto, Volume I, pages 263-291, Springer.

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