The Great Deflation

Last updated

US Historical Inflation Ancient.svg

The Great Deflation or the Great Sag refers to the period from 1870 until 1890 in which the world prices of goods, materials and labor decreased, although at a low rate of less than 2% annually. [1] [ dead link ] This was one of the few sustained periods of deflationary growth in the history of the United States.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Many businesses suffered, such as warehousing, especially in the London area, due to improvements in transportation, like efficient steam shipping and the opening of the Suez Canal, and also because of the international telegraph network. Displaced workers found new employment in the expanding economy as real incomes grew. [2]

By contrast to the mild deflation of the so-called Great Deflation, the deflation of the 1930s Great Depression was so severe that deflation today is associated with depressions, although economic data suggest this correlation was an outlier. [3]

Productivity caused deflation

The Great Deflation occurred at the beginning of the period sometimes called the Second Industrial Revolution. It was characterized by dramatic increases in productivity made possible by the transition from agriculture to industrialization in the leading economies. The new leading industries were Bessemer and open hearth steel, railroads, the machinery industry, efficient steam shipping and animal powered agricultural mechanization. The prices of most basic commodities and mass-produced goods fell almost continuously; however, nominal wages remained steady, resulting in a pronounced and prolonged rise in real wages, disposable income and savings – essentially giving birth to the middle class. Goods produced by craftsmen, as opposed to in factories, did not decrease in price. [2] [4]

Deflation with increasing gold supply

The Great Deflation occurred despite an increase in the world's gold supply, which William Stanley Jevons predicted would result in inflation. [2] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macroeconomics</span> Study of an economy as a whole

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes national, regional, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output/GDP and national income, unemployment, price indices and inflation, consumption, saving, investment, energy, international trade, and international finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inflation</span> Devaluation of currency over a period of time

In economics, inflation is a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy. This is usually measured using a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money. The opposite of CPI inflation is deflation, a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. The common measure of inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in a general price index. As prices faced by households do not all increase at the same rate, the consumer price index (CPI) is often used for this purpose.

In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0%. Inflation reduces the value of currency over time, but deflation increases it. This allows more goods and services to be bought than before with the same amount of currency. Deflation is distinct from disinflation, a slowdown in the inflation rate; i.e., when inflation declines to a lower rate but is still positive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of economics articles</span>

This aims to be a complete article list of economics topics:

Business cycles are intervals of general expansion followed by recession in economic performance. The changes in economic activity that characterize business cycles have important implications for the welfare of the general population, government institutions, and private sector firms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Causes of the Great Depression</span> Overview of the causes of the Great Depression

The causes of the Great Depression in the early 20th century in the United States have been extensively discussed by economists and remain a matter of active debate. They are part of the larger debate about economic crises and recessions. The specific economic events that took place during the Great Depression are well established.

The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1899, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. The episode was labeled the "Great Depression" at the time, and it held that designation until the Great Depression of the 1930s. Though it marked a period of general deflation and a general contraction, it did not have the severe economic retrogression of the later Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic history of the United States</span>

The economic history of the United States is about characteristics of and important developments in the economy of the U.S., from the colonial era to the present. The emphasis is on productivity and economic performance and how the economy was affected by new technologies, the change of size in economic sectors and the effects of legislation and government policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ames Wells</span> American engineer & economist (1828-1898)

David Ames Wells was an American engineer, textbook author, economist and advocate of low tariffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baumol effect</span> Rise of salaries in jobs that have seen little rise of productivity

In economics, the Baumol effect, also known as Baumol's cost disease, first described by William J. Baumol and William G. Bowen in the 1960s, is the tendency for wages in jobs that have experienced little or no increase in labor productivity to rise in response to rising wages in other jobs that did experience high productivity growth. In turn, these sectors of the economy become more expensive over time, because their input costs increase while productivity does not. Typically, this affects services more than manufactured goods, and in particular health, education, arts and culture.

The real economy concerns the production, purchase and flow of goods and services within an economy. It is contrasted with the financial economy, which concerns the aspects of the economy that deal purely in transactions of money and other financial assets, which represent ownership or claims to ownership of real sector goods and services.

Economic stagnation is a prolonged period of slow economic growth, usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, slow means significantly slower than potential growth as estimated by macroeconomists, even though the growth rate may be nominally higher than in other countries not experiencing economic stagnation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Divergence</span> Period/event in European history

The Great Divergence or European miracle is the socioeconomic shift in which the Western world overcame pre-modern growth constraints and emerged during the 19th century as the most powerful and wealthy world civilizations, eclipsing previously dominant or comparable civilizations from the Middle East and Asia such as Qing China, Mughal India, the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Iran, and Tokugawa Japan, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demand-led growth</span>

Demand-led growth is the foundation of an economic theory claiming that an increase in aggregate demand will ultimately cause an increase in total output in the long run. This is based on a hypothetical sequence of events where an increase in demand will, in effect, stimulate an increase in supply. This stands in opposition to the common neo-classical theory that demand follows supply, and consequently, that supply determines growth in the long run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815)</span>

The economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815) covers the Netherlands as the Habsburg Netherlands, through the era of the Dutch Republic, the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of economics</span>

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to economics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Depression</span> Worldwide economic depression (1929–1939)

The Great Depression was a period of severe, global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. It was characterized by high unemployment rates and widespread business failures around the world. The economic contagion began around September 1929 in the United States, the largest economy in the world at the time. Economic historians usually consider the catalyst of the Great Depression to be the devastating Wall Street stock market crash of October: a sharp decline in U.S. stock prices often referred to as 'The Black Tuesday'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Depression of 1920–1921</span> Sharp deflationary recession

The Depression of 1920–1921 was a sharp deflationary recession in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries, beginning 14 months after the end of World War I. It lasted from January 1920 to July 1921. The extent of the deflation was not only large, but large relative to the accompanying decline in real product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of economics</span> List of definitions of terms and concepts commonly used in the study of economics

This glossary of economics is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in economics, its sub-disciplines, and related fields.

The economic de-industrialisation of India refers to a period of studied reduction in industrial based activities within the Indian economy from 1757 to 1947.

References

  1. Michael Bordo and Angela Redish (2001). "Claremont Conference on Deflation—Canadian Deflations and the Twisting Aggregate Supply Curve" (PDF). Rutgers University and the University of British Columbia. p. 7. Retrieved 23 September 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 Wells, David A. (1891). Recent Economic Changes and Their Effect on Production and Distribution of Wealth and Well-Being of Society. New York: D. Appleton and Co. ISBN   0-543-72474-3. RECENT ECONOMIC CHANGES AND THEIR EFFECT ON DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND WELL BEING OF SOCIETY WELLS.
  3. Andrew Atkeson and Patrick J. Kehoe of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Deflation and Depression: Is There an Empirical Link?
  4. Landes, David. S. (1969). The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge, New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. ISBN   0-521-09418-6.
  5. Stapleford, Thomas (2009). The Cost of Living in America: A Political History of Economic Statistics, 1880–2000. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69–73.