Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Sozialwissenschaften

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1027069762

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-48066

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Schumpeter, Joseph A. http://d-nb.info/gnd/118611682

Title:: Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Sozialwissenschaften

Place of publication:: München

Publisher:: Verlag von Duncker & Humblot

Year of publication:: 1915

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (140 Seiten)

Digitisation:: 2018

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: II.

Collection:: Economics Books

28 MODERN MONETARY SYSTEMS between silver and gold standard countries accordingly began to fluctuate ; for in the absence of a sufficient quantity of drafts it was now necessary to export silver, which was no longer convertible at a fixed rate either directly or in- directly, through bimetallist countries, into the currency of a creditor country and only represented in this currency an amount which varied with the market price. This uncertainty was considerably aggravated by a rapid decline in the value of silver after 1873. Public opinion was much disturbed by this depreciation, both in countries where it took the form of an exchange crisis and in countries such as the United States, where it affected the interests of a powerful group of producers. An impor- tant monetary phenomenon, it was the object of countless inquiries and heated discussions which soon spread from the economists to politicians. These discussions do not, however, appear to have re- sulted in any clear explanation of the phenomenon. The advocates of a return to bimetallism merely accused Gov- ernments which had suspended the coinage of silver of having restricted the market for the white metal—an argu- ment which was not conclusive, since the recent statistics showed that the market for silver had not shrunk after 1873. The real cause of the depreciation of silver lay, not in the suspension of coinage, but, as we shall see, in the suppression of freedom of coinage. Certain attendant circumstances prevented people from seeing at the time that this was the true explanation. In the first place, the depreciation of silver after 1873 seemed to be a mere continuation of the fall which had been taking place since 1867. Again, before the suspension of coinage by the Governments, administrative measures had been taken to relieve the pressure on the mints. Lastly, even be- fore the decision to suppress free coinage of silver had been officially taken, its market rate had been affected by pro- longed delay in coining and even by the fact that further ad libitum minting of silver had become comparatively uncertain. Nevertheless, it is the suppression of free coinage which marks the radical change in the conditions of the market.

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