Fri. 12/06/22 18:31 EDT
.post #179
Assuming “industrial production” is measured in terms of money, then one question is: Are the money numbers corrected for inflation, or not? If not, then how are we to know if actual production is increasing, or just the money numbers (reflecting continuously devaluing money), or a combination of the two?
Also, Germany originally went off the gold standard in 1914 (source), so I’d like to see a chart of the German IPI (Industrial Production Index, and also Index of Industrial Production) from say, 1914 to 1920. If forsaking the gold standard engenders greater industrial production (as the amended chart from The origins and nature of the Great Slump, revisited by Barry J Eichengreen seems to indicate) then a chart of the German IPI from 1914 to 1920 would be increasing reading from left to right. Is this actually the case?
After 1920 during the German hyper-inflation, I don’t think such a chart, measured in rapidly devaluing dollars Deutsche Marks Papiermarks, would tell us anything about the rate at which industrial production was changing.
Edit:
Also, the amendment “The Earlier You Abandon the Gold Standard and Start Your New Deal, the Better…” suggests that “increased industrial production” is somehow “better”…but, is this true? “Better” in what sense, and for whom? Was the increased industrial (war) production of World War II “better” for the civilians who had to suffer rationing, shortages, decreased selection, inferior quality goods, etc.?