Gold-standard return caused depressions across Britain, Japan, and France

Evidence

The British heroically restored their pre-war parity and almost instantly generated a million unemployed and a slump that persisted until the end of the 1930s. … Japan underwent several rounds of deliberate deflation to get back on gold that proved utterly futile. In the process they annoyed their own military so much that it began to assassinate key members of the financial elite and forced a reflation of the economy far greater than the Swedes or the Germans ever managed. Finally, France remained on the gold standard longer than anyone else and ended up, arguably, suffering the most. They ceased to exist as an independent nation. French financial elites were so afraid of inflation, and were so determined to maintain the value of the franc, that they paralyzed the French military’s ability to mobilize against Hitler. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 557

Categorization

• SEED: The Japan case — austerity-induced assassination of financial elites by the military — is a striking angle for an essay on how deflationary orthodoxy produces political blowback.
• XREF: connects to: The gold standard was a major cause of the world’s two worst economic depressions. — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 485; Britain’s gold-standard return demanded prolonged deliberate deflation — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 995; Churchill’s 1925 return to gold at a high rate devastated British exports and unemployment — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 332 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Churchill’s 1925 return to gold at a high rate devastated British exports and unemployment #exemplifies (0.85) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 332
• Pound revaluation in the 1920s forced down wages through mass unemployment #exemplifies (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1683
• Britain’s gold-standard return demanded prolonged deliberate deflation #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 995
• Returning to gold required deliberate deflation in post-WWI Europe. #corroborates (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 499
• British austerity culminated in forced departure from the gold standard in 1931 #expands (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 517
• British monetary austerity after 1920 produced an unhealthy quasi-equilibrium for a full decade #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1731