Searching for Irving Fisher / Kris James Mitchener, Marc D. Weidenmier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchener, Kris James.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Weidenmier, Marc D.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15670.

NBER working paper series no. w15670

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2010.

Summary:

There is a long-standing debate as to whether the Fisher effect operated during the classical gold standard period. We break new ground on this question by developing a market-based measure of general inflation expectations during the gold standard. Since the gold-silver price ratio was widely used to track inflation during the gold standard period, we are able to derive a measure of inflation expectations using the interest-rate differential between Austrian silver and gold perpetuity bonds with identical terms. Our empirical evidence suggests that inflation expectations exhibited significant persistence at the weekly, monthly, and annual frequencies. We also find that market participants updated long-run inflation expectations following short-run changes in the forward silver price of gold. The evidence suggests the operation of a long-run Fisher effect during the classical gold standard period.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2010.