Search results for "Great depression"
showing 10 items of 15 documents
From 2009 to 1929
2010
The current and still unfolding crisis of our economic system shows disturbing resemblances to the Great Depression in terms of magnitude, triggering mechanisms, and curative public interventions. This paper compares the experience, mechanisms, and consequences of these two crises in light of the analysis of Fisher, Keynes, and Minsky. This analysis proves very useful for understanding the triggering mechanisms of the current crisis, as well as its propagation mechanisms. It also addresses two dilemmas within the debate about the curative as well as preventive measures for getting out of the crisis and avoiding a new disaster: the dilemma of monetary activism and that of liquidity.
1936. Frustrated Hopes: The Great Depression, the Second Republic and the Civil War
2020
The Great Depression was accompanied by the collapse of the monarchical regime and the establishment of a modern democracy with the Second Republic in April 1931. The new regime had to balance the importance of gaining domestic and international respectability (using orthodox fiscal and monetary policy) with efforts to shift towards a moderate protectionist policy, and enact land, labour and educational reforms. There were fierce confrontations from 1934 on, eventually culminating in a civil war in 1936. The consequences included a long-lasting impact on economic growth; autarky and interventionist policies; a huge loss of human capital; poverty and rising inequality; and a 40-year-long dic…
Política monetaria en tiempos de pandemia: evaluación y propuesta del Helicóptero Monetario
2020
La pandemia del Covid-19 ha provocado una de las crisis más importantes desde la Gran Depresión. Ante esto, es necesaria una mayor coordinación entre la política monetaria y las políticas fiscales. En este artículo, se ha analizado el Helicóptero Monetario como posible respuesta a la crisis y como complemento a las medidas adoptadas. Tras presentar evidencia histórica de los efectos del Helicóptero Monetario, examinar los distintos ejemplos propuestos en la literatura, y evaluar sus fortalezas y debilidades, se ha articulado una propuesta para la eurozona a través del Banco Central Europeo (BCE) en coordinación con el grupo del Banco Europeo de Inversiones (BEI)
Jacob Viner and the Chicago monetary tradition
2009
The paper aims at assessing Jacob Viner's role in that brand of monetary thought which historians associate with the Chicago School and whose origins can be retraced in the writings and teaching of Frank Knight, Lloyd Mints, Henry Simons and Viner himself. After a brief description of the prolonged debate over the origins and nature of the so called “Chicago Monetary Tradition”, we examine Viner's analyses and policy proposals drawing particular attention to: his analysis of the Great depression; his proposals for monetary expansion and banking reform; his shift of emphasis in favour of Fiscal Policy; the evolution of its monetary framework in the early 1930's. Finally, we compare his posit…
From the great depression to bretton woods: Jacob Viner and international monetary stabilization (1930-1945)
2009
This paper examines Jacob Viner's contribution to the debate and the policy decision-making concerning international monetary policy from the Great Depression to the Bretton Woods agreements. An outstanding member of the so-called 'early Chicago School of Political Economy', Viner was actively engaged in the debate over the causes and cures of the Depression, emphasizing the important role international economic problems played in producing its onset and in reinforcing its duration. During the 1930s Viner was an outspoken supporter of international monetary cooperation, set up to secure exchange rates stability, which he regarded as a paramount factor in restoring business confidence and fo…
Reshaping Monetary Policy after the Great Crash: John H. Williams at the NY FED
2020
John H. Williams was an influential economist and central banker in the interwar years. A Harvard University professor since 1929 specialized in international trade and monetary economics, he joined the NY Fed in 1933 and became its vice-President in 1936. This paper aims to provide a general assessment of Williams’ contributions to monetary and fiscal policy during his tenure at the NY FED. We shall try to do so by following a twofold perspective: i. establish connections between Williams’ more theoretical works, his interpretations of the great depression and some policy decisions enacted by the FED in the 1930s; ii. provide new archival evidence on what was the part Williams played in th…
Conan Fischer, A Vision of Europe. Franco-German Relations during the Great Depression, 1929–1932. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2017
2018
HARVARD MEETS THE CRISIS: THE MONETARY THEORY AND POLICY OF LAUCHLIN B. CURRIE, JACOB VINER, JOHN H. WILLIAMS, AND HARRY D. WHITE
2015
The paper discusses the interpretation of the Great Depression and the policy decision making by four Harvard economists: Lauchlin B. Currie, Jacob Viner, John H. Williams, and Harry D. White. All were eminent scholars in the field of monetary and international economics, and were deeply involved in policy decisions during the New Deal. We will discuss how their Harvard training provided them with a common methodological and analytical perspective, and how this common perspective translated into specific policies when they moved from the academia to public service in the US administration. Their interpretation of the causes of the Great Depression and their policy proposals show the eclecti…