再议金本位制和30年代大危机:起因、扩散和复苏

本文从总供给和总需求的角度出发,认为货币因素,尤其是"一战"后所恢复的已经不合时宜的国际黄金本位制,对于扣动大危机的直接爆发,以及其世界性的传导和扩散具有举足轻重的负面影响。金本位制、传统平价,以及预算平衡的理念是在进入20世纪30年代之前人类经济思想积累中的宝贵遗产,路径依赖性政策抉择的代价是高昂的;同样地,30年代危机的走出也和对这些传统思想与政策的扬弃直接相连。虽然今天金本位制已经远离了我们,但在了解货币政策对宏观经济表现的影响、国际金融危机的潜在传导机制,以及不同的应对措施对于走出危机的作用等各个方面,30年代大危机都留给了我们大量值得反思的理论和经验。

Review the Great Depression from the Gold Standard Perspective: Causes, Transmission and Recovery

This paper examines the Great Depression from an AS-AD model and emphasizes that the monetary factor, especially the gold standard which was not appropritely restored after the First World War, is a main negative cause in triggering and transmitting the great depression throughout the world. The conceptions of gold standard, traditional parity and budget balance were treasured legacy from classical thoughts of economics, and it cost so much to challenge them, partly due to the "path dependence." Although gold standard is far away from us, it is still meaningful and worthwhile to know the effects of the monetary policy on macroeconomic performances, potential transmission mechanism in a financial crisis, and other valuable measures in dealing with a typical depression.