ABSTRACT
From 1919 to early 1923 the French franc depreciated steadily but relatively slowly. The case of the franc and the pound sterling require fuller treatment. So far as the European currencies generally are concerned the rates obtaining reflected the damage suffered during the war and the inflation and extravagance, public and private, which followed. Inability to borrow either at home or abroad need not, however, have been a final obstacle to the stabilization of the franc, for the Banque de France held a gold reserve ample to stabilize it in March, 1926, at about 130, if not at a better rate. To understand why the problem of the franc exists it is necessary to realize that French public opinion looks on State finance from an altogether different standpoint from that generally taken in England.
