THE GOLD STANDARD AND MONETARY STABILIZATION - Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics

Sep 21, 2026

Money is analyzed as a medium of exchange and a standard of value, emphasizing the need for stability in purchasing power. The text traces the historical shift from barter to a money economy and explains why gold came to dominate after bimetallism. It details price instability under the gold standard and compares it with greater stability under paper money and credit. It then reviews proposals, including Irving Fisher’s goods-dollar concept, and discusses mechanisms such as varying gold dollar weights and certificate-backed reserves.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Money as a Standard of Value

Historical adoption of the gold standard

Instability and comparisons of price levels

Prices under gold versus paper and credit

Proposals for stabilizing purchasing power

Fisher’s goods-dollar idea

Gold-dollar weight changes and certificates

International and institutional approaches

British committee and the postwar banking system

97-84070-8Trant,James Buchanan The gold standard andmonetary stabilizationUrbana,IⅢ. 1926 # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISIONBIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD | 308
Trant,Jemes Buchanan,
Z
Box 198 The gold standard and monetary stabilization,by
James Buchanan Trant ..Urbana,Il¹.,1926.
12 p.24 cm.
Abstract of thesis(Ph,D.)University of Illi-
nois,1935.
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O | | --- | | | Reproductions may not be made without permission trom Columbla UniversityLibraries. ## RESTRICTIONS ON USE: # TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 35mmREDUCTION RATIO: 1/:/ A IMAGE PLACEMENT:IA IB IB DATE FILMED: 1197INITIALS: TLM 23442 ## TRACKING\#: FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. # THE GOLD STANDARD ANDMONETARY STABILIZATION Z 198 BY JAMES BUCHANAN TRANT A.B.,Howard Colege,1920 A.M,Princeton University,I921 AN ABSTRACT OF A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTSFOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INECONOMICS IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOLOF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,1925 URBANA,ILLINOIS I926 THE GOLD STANDARD ANDMONETARY STABILIZATION BYJAMES BUCHANAN TRANT A.B,Howard Colle,1920AM,Princeton University,1921AN ABSTRAC OF A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTSFOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INECONOMICS IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOLOF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,I925URBANA,ILLINOIS1926 1.E # THE GOLD STANDARD AND MONETARYSTABILIZATION Money serves primarily two purposes;it acts as a mediumof exchange and as a standard of value.If it is to perform thesefunctions eficiently it must be stable in value. In the development from a barter to a money economy it wasearly found that certain metals had a superior fitness to performthe monetary function.Gold finally dominated because of thebreak-down of bimetallism and the belief that gold was more stablethan silver.England established the gold standard in I816,andbetween that date and 1905 the major nations of the worldadopted it. But prices have been very unstable under the gold standard.Using 1900 as a base year,prices fell from 157 in 1821 to Io7 in1849,and rose to 148 in 1873,declining from there to 8r in 1896,and rising to II3 in I914.Prices,however,have been more stableunder an uncontrolled paper money and credit system.The pricelevel rose between I913 and 192o from Ioo to 510.3 in France;624-4 in Italy;295 in England;I,486 in Germany;249.7 inCanada;and 226 in the United States.Because of the conditionsjust described a number of proposals have been made for stabil-izing the purchasing power of money. Professor Irving Fisher in his book,"Stabilizing the Dollar,"states that a“goods-dollar”would make a better standard thana gold or silver dollar.It is recognized that the “goods-dollar”could not be used as a medium of exchange because of its weightand bulk and because of the fact that goods are perishable.Be-cause of that it is proposed to keep gold as the medium of ex-change but change the weight of the gold dollar in such a way asto make it equal in value to the“goods-dollar.”The value of the“goods-dollar”would be found by calculating the index numberof prices of a large number of wholesale commodities.The presentprice level would be established as par and every two months theindex number would be computed and if it had increased one percent,the weight of the gold dollar would be decreased one percentIt would be almost impossible to change the weight of thegold coins if they were kept in circulation.Because of that it is proposed to take them out of circulation and put gold certificatesin their place.The certificates would call for a varying amountofgold bullion,depending on the price level.Since the certificatescalled for varying amounts of gold as the price level changed,itwould leave

FAQs

Why does the text emphasize stability in money’s value?

Because money must reliably function as both a medium of exchange and a standard of value, requiring stability in purchasing power.

What does the text say about price behavior under the gold standard?

It argues that prices were very unstable under the gold standard, citing long-run declines and later rises using selected base-year comparisons.

What stabilization plan does the text discuss from Irving Fisher?

It describes keeping gold as the exchange medium while adjusting the weight of the gold dollar to match a goods-dollar based on a wholesale price index, alongside certificate-backed reserves and fees to limit speculation.

Sep 21, 2026

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