Notwithstanding the fact that the paper currency issued was the direct obligation of the State, that much of it was interest bearing, and that all of it was secured upon the finest real estate in France, and that penalties in the way of fines, imprisonments and death were enacted from time to time to maintain its circulation at fixed values, there was a steady depreciation in value until it reached zero point and culminated in repudiation. The aggregate of the issues amounted to no less than the enormous and unthinkable sum ...
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Notwithstanding the fact that the paper currency issued was the direct obligation of the State, that much of it was interest bearing, and that all of it was secured upon the finest real estate in France, and that penalties in the way of fines, imprisonments and death were enacted from time to time to maintain its circulation at fixed values, there was a steady depreciation in value until it reached zero point and culminated in repudiation. The aggregate of the issues amounted to no less than the enormous and unthinkable sum of $9,500,000,000, and in the middle of 1797 when public repudiation took place, there was no less than $4,200,000,000 in face value of assignats and mandats outstanding; the loss, as always, falling mostly upon the poor and the ignorant. In the attempt to maintain fixed values for the paper currency the Government became involved in an equally futile attempt to maintain a tariff of legal prices for commodities. Here again penalties of fines, of imprisonments and of death were powerless to accomplish the end in view.
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Add this copy of Fiat Money Inflation in France to cart. $9.56, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2017 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of Fiat Money Inflation in France to cart. $29.54, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by CreateSpace Independent Publis.
This book by Andrew Dickson White was originally published in 1912. White was a historian, educator, diplomat and a scholar. The book traces the initiation and ultimate consequences of the paper money in revolutionary France in the 1790s.
It shows the devastating effects of a fiat money money program not only on the french economy but on the moral fiber of the nation. Probably the most interesting aspect of this book is the similarity of the arguments for a fiat money policy to those found in the monetary policy of the United States today. The disastrous consequences of such a policy are clearly shown. It's a reminder that those who ignore history are bound to repeat it.
