I said:“As Ive mentioned already, the period between 1880-1896 saw deflation at 1.7% a year, and real incomes rise by 5% each year. This increase in real wages were felt across the board, it was completely egalitarian.” I got this information from Mises.org in an audio lecture.
He said: “Go read some history books on the labour movement and the economy of the time (ie not what Murray Rothbard and libertarians say to try to gloss over it). You;ll find it was one of the worst periods in US history for workers. Also, in 1893, the US had its worst depression (till the one in the 1930s came along) in which 600 banks went bust after a frenzy of speculation on railways (lol, asset bubble leading to financial meltdown - sound familiar?), unemployment rose to 12-18% (depending on estimates) there was a run on gold, etc., etc. In fact, deflation over the latter part of the nineteenth century came both from the US reverting to the gold standard and the discovery of huge reserves of gold in Canada and South Africa. And the period to which you refer was when American monopoly capitalism was born. Not only that, but the United States’ big rival, the United Kingdom, suffered badly from deflation and European markets were in crisis - a crisis resolved ultimately by European powers expanding their empires, competing for control over Africa, etc., all of which led eventually to the First World War.”
You should put a link to the audio you are talking about. Who is the ‘he’ from “his claim”?
Does “reverting to the gold standard” actually mean going away from bimetallism?
I think you ought to look back to the Panic of 1873 and also study the Berlin Treaty of 1888 to get a better picture of what happened. I believe this ‘depression’ is now called the Long Depression, but was called the Great Depression before the one we all now call the GD took place.
having an inflated supply of gold is deflation is it?
also be skeptical of history written by historians touching on economic topics, there isnt a terrific track record on that sort of work, hence the power of the Rothbardian type revisionism.
well he never refuted the claim that real income for workers were rising even during deflation
12-18% unemployment? Thats about as bad as the post WWI depression, less bad than the GD, and as bad as Stagflation. So much government intervention and a fed avoiding recessions that would be worse without them
hahaaha. Ok the great world wars, holocaust, communism, stalin, yada yada yada were not caused by gold backed currency and deflation rofl. He should know better, that these wars were caused by democratic governments and Anti-Capitalist mentality, hatred for private property, and hatred of capitalism. The most violent regimes were born from ideology.