“We Must Deflate”: The Crime of 1920 Revisited

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 618-650
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER W. SHAW
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
World War I ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Federal Reserve System ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
La Follette ◽  
Reserve System

Post-World War I Federal Reserve System policy focused on reducing price levels. Faith in liquidationist ideas led Federal Reserve officials to maintain tight-money policies during the depression of 1920–1921. Farmers suffering through this economic crisis objected to contemporary monetary policy. Organized labor and leading Progressive reformer Robert M. La Follette Sr. seconded their criticism. Postwar challenges to the nation’s financial leadership and its priorities bore tangible results by producing a number of notable reforms, including modifications of Federal Reserve policy and the Agricultural Credits Act of 1923. In the absence of similar political pressure during the Great Depression, the Federal Reserve System adhered to liquidationist ideas and did not pursue monetary expansion.

CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANTI-CRISIS STRATEGY TO OVERCOME THE CORONOVIRUS PANDEMIC AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-83
Author(s):  
Elena Lutskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Federal Reserve System ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Reserve System

The article examines the views of Western researchers on overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and its consequences. The main focus is on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve system - the most developed financial system that affects both the US economy and global markets.

War and the Next Lesson

Money ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kenneth Galbraith ◽  
James K. Galbraith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Monetary Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
World War I ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
John Maynard Keynes ◽  
The Great Depression

This chapter examines the lessons of World War II with respect to money and monetary policy. World War I exposed the fragility of the monetary structure that had gold as its foundation, the great boom of the 1920s showed how futile monetary policy was as an instrument of restraint, and the Great Depression highlighted the ineffectuality of monetary policy for rescuing the country from a slump—for breaking out of the underemployment equilibrium once this had been fully and firmly established. On the part of John Maynard Keynes, the lesson was that only fiscal policy ensured not just that money was available to be borrowed but that it would be borrowed and would be spent. The chapter considers the experiences of Britain, Germany, and the United States with a lesson of World War II: that general measures for restraining demand do not prevent inflation in an economy that is operating at or near capacity.

A Reconsideration of Federal Reserve Policy during the 1920–1921 Depression

1966 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmus R. Wicker
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Railway Transportation ◽  
World War ◽  
Quick Recovery ◽  
Member Bank ◽  
Reserve System ◽  
Federal Reserve Policy

Criticism of the Federal Reserve Board for not advancing rates earlier in 1919 to halt a rampant inflation is seldom as severe or nearly as devastating as the criticism heaped upon it for not easing credit sooner during the sharp but brief depression episode of 1920–1921. After the collapse of prices in May 1920, the immediate goal of Federal Reserve policy was to prevent a widespread financial crisis by maintaining the liquidity of the banking system. Congress had created the Federal Reserve System for the specific purpose of preventing a recurrence of the financial panics that had plagued our pre-World War I monetary experience. In 1920 the Federal Reserve Banks succeeded in this task by making funds freely available at relatively high discount rates. Somewhat surprising is the fact that there was no liquidation of bank credit nor decline in the money supply during the first six months of the downswing. Loans at commercial banks continued to increase, and member-bank indebtedness continued to rise. The action taken by System officials probably warded off what might easily have been the worst financial catastrophe in our history. Unfortunately, the policy they pursued, though successful in preventing a banking crisis, was inimical to a quick recovery of business activity. Inventory decumulation, particularly in the agricultural sector, was hampered by a bumper harvest and a railway transportation bottleneck which was not eliminated until October.

Understanding Interest Rates and the Economy

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan N. Rechtschaffen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Federal Reserve ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Reserve System ◽  
Federal Open Market Committee ◽  
Reserve Banking ◽  
Reserve System

This chapter begins with a discussion of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Banking System. The Federal Reserve System was created by Congress under the Federal Reserve Act “to provide for the establishment of federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States and for other purposes.” The Federal Reserve System comprises a central Board of Governors appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate, and 12 regional Reserve banks. Monetary policy is set by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The remainder of the chapter covers monetary policy, quantitative easing, balance sheet normalization and the FOMC minutes.

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