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Jonas Ljungberg. Photo.

Jonas Ljungberg

Professor emeritus

Jonas Ljungberg. Photo.

The Myth of Competitive Devaluations in the 1930s

Author

  • Jonas Ljungberg

Summary, in English

Conventional wisdom pretends that currency devaluations contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This paper examines the impact of nominal exchange rates on foreign trade of 14 industrialized countries 1929-1939. If the idea of competitive devaluation holds, one should expect an increase in exports, along with a decline in imports, to trading partners against which the exchange rate depreciated. Tests show that the beggar-thy-neighbour effects of exchange rate adjustments were at most marginal. Moreover, there is evidence that currency depreciations were expansionary not only for countries that devalued but for the international economy as a whole.

Department/s

  • Department of Economic History

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Publication/Series

Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues

Issue

2020:211

Document type

Working paper

Topic

  • Economic History

Keywords

  • interwar
  • Europe
  • exchange rates
  • trade
  • depression
  • N14
  • F31
  • E31
  • E52

Status

Published