Monetary austerity, by raising sterling, crushed British exports and unions

Evidence

Monetary austerity infl icted heavy damage on British trade, especially coal exports: sterling rose against other currencies, making British goods more expensive than those of other countries in world markets. Bad business meant a surge in unemployment, which crushed unions and especially their power to press for social change. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 414

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broad interest in austerity as class weapon — the mechanism by which monetary policy transmits to labor power. — connects to: Britain’s gold-standard austerity doubled unemployment from 10.4 to 22.1 percent — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 514; British austerity served foreign holders of sterling assets more than domestic workers — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 513; British austerity culminated in forced departure from the gold standard in 1931 — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 517 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Monetary deflation was the decisive instrument that defeated British labor. #corroborates (1.00) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 980
• Austerity-driven unemployment stripped organized labor of its political power in Britain. #corroborates (0.95) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1503
• The Treasury and Bank of England used monetary austerity to block the miners’ movement #exemplifies (0.90)
• Pound revaluation in the 1920s forced down wages through mass unemployment #expands (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1683
• Monetary austerity deliberately manufactures unemployment to compress wages. #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 284
• British monetary austerity after 1920 produced an unhealthy quasi-equilibrium for a full decade #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1731
• Monetary austerity deliberately aimed to rein in workers’ purchasing power #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 757
• Monetary austerity deliberately induced recession to discipline workers. #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 154
• Interwar austerity crushed class-based activism in Britain and Italy. #corroborates (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1549
• Export-led growth structurally demands wage suppression and anti-inflationary monetary dominance #qualifies (0.75) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 368