ABSTRACT
The idea of credit expansion became very popular during the period of stability that preceded the crisis. It has been advocated by some of the leading authorities on monetary questions, especially in Great Britain. At the same time, a number of enthusiastic reformers, such as Major Douglas and Professor Soddy, obtained the support of those sections of public opinion which were unable to follow the scientific reasonings of Mr. Keynes or Mr. Hawtrey. In practice, however, the movement achieved no noteworthy result. In a negative sense, it was possibly in part responsible for the reluctance of the authorities to restrict credit in order to re-adjust British prices to the world level. Even in this respect the determination of trade unions to oppose wage-cuts was a more important factor than the movement in favour of credit expansion.
