Fiscal Discriminations in Three Wars / George J. Hall, Thomas J. Sargent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hall, George J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Sargent, Thomas J.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w19008.

NBER working paper series no. w19008

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2013.

Summary:

In 1790, a U.S. paper dollar was widely held in disrepute (something shoddy was not 'worth a Continental'). By 1879, a U.S. paper dollar had become 'as good as gold.' These outcomes emerged from how the U.S. federal government financed three wars: the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. In the beginning, the U.S. government discriminated greatly in the returns it paid to different classes of creditors; but that pattern of discrimination diminished over time in ways that eventually rehabilitated the reputation of federal paper money as a store of value.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2013.