ABSTRACT
On the misbehaviour of gold in the years following 1914 it would not be fair to lay too much stress, any more than on any of the other economic phenomena of the Great Muddle. A gently rising price-level pleases the business men; and the business men are in the saddle, and hold the reins of industry. If gold is really to become a Merovingian monarch, with the central bankers of the leading countries as joint Mayors of the Palace, a good many of the objections which have been urged against the gold standard fall to the ground. Restriction of output, restriction of entry, restriction of inventive power, restriction of human kindliness and decent feeling — these are the acknowledged offspring of that terrible figure with the folded hands. There is a disposition about to regard the gold exchange system as a mere half-way house on the road to a gold bullion or even a gold circulation system.
