This book was originally published in 2004. Fears of deflation seemed nothing
more than a relic of the Great Depression. However, beginning in the 1990s, persistently
falling consumer prices have emerged in Japan, China and elsewhere. Deflation is also a
distinct possibility in some of the major European area economies, especially Germany, and
emerged as a concern of the US Federal Reserve in 2003.
Deflation may be worse than inflation not only because the real burden of
debt rises but also because firms would confront rising real wages in a world where
nominal wage rigidity prevails.
This volume explores some key themes regarding deflation including:
(i) how economic agents and policy makers have responded to deflation,
(ii) the links between monetary policy, goods price movements, and asset price
movements,
(iii) the impact of deflation under different monetary policy and exchange rate
regimes, and
(iv) stock market reactions to deflation.
Table of Contents
List of tables and figures
List of contributors
Preface
1. Fears of deflation and the role of monetary policy: some lessons and an
overview Richard C. K. Burdekin and Pierre L. Siklos
Part I. Fears of Deflation and the Role of Monetary Policy:
2. Deflation, silent runs, and bank holidays in the great contraction
Hugh Rockhoff
3. Price change, financial stability, and the British economy, 1870–1939
Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood
4. Deflation dynamics in Sweden: perceptions, expectations, and adjustment during
the deflations of 1921–1923 and 1931–1933 Klas Fregert and Lars Jonung
Part II. Deflation and Asset Prices:
5. Boom-busts in asset prices, economic instability, and monetary policy
Michael D. Bordo and Olivier Jeanne
6. Deflation, credit and asset prices Charles Goodhart and Boris Hofmann
Part III. International Perspectives on Deflation:
7. Is deflation depressing? Evidence from the classical gold standard
Michael D. Bordo and Angela Redish
8. The strong Lira policy and deflation in Italy's interwar period
Michele Fratianni and Franco Spinelli
9. Deflation and stagnation in Japan: collapse of the monetary transmission
mechanism and echo from the 1930s Michael M. Hutchison
Part IV. Stock Market Adjustment to Deflation:
10. Deflation, the financial crises of the 1890s, and Stock Exchange responses
in London, New York, Paris, and Berlin Lance Davis, Larry Neal, and Eugene White
11. The Stock Market and the business cycle in periods of deflation,
(hyper-)inflation, and political turmoil: Germany 1913–1926 Martin T. Bohl and
Pierre L. Siklos
12. Deflationary pressures and the role of gold stocks: 1929, 1987 and today
Richard C. K. Burdekin and Marc D. Weidenmier
References
Index.
384 pages, Paperback