Golden Fetters

Why read it

• You will weigh the argument that the gold standard magnified the first shock and kept policymakers from stopping bank failures
• You will understand why the gold standard worked before the First World War and failed afterward
• You will see why recovery came only after countries gave up gold, as the author argues

Who it is for

• Economics student studying the causes of the Depression
• Reader worried about fixed exchange rates and currency crises
• Investor wanting historical lessons on money and crisis

What the summary covers

1. Gold and the conditions that once supported it2 min
2. The limits of the prewar example1 min
3. War leaves debt, inflation and new political demands2 min
4. The misleading lesson of 1919 to 19212 min
5. Germany: reparations, conflict and stabilization3 min
6. The costly return to gold3 min
7. A rebuilt system with fragile reserves3 min
8. The lending reversal spreads the downturn3 min
9. Bank rescue meets the gold constraint in 19313 min
10. Freedom after departure was a policy choice2 min
11. The dollar turn and the limits of cooperation2 min
12. The gold bloc leaves late, with different results4 min
13. What the interwar failure teaches2 min

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