Fiscal discriminations in three wars

George J. Hall; Thomas J. Sargent

doi:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2013.09.002

Fiscal discriminations in three wars

George J. Hall, Thomas J. Sargent

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In 1790, a U.S. paper dollar was widely held in disrepute (something shoddy was not 'worth a Continental'). By 1879, a U.S. paper dollar had become 'as good as gold'. These outcomes emerged from how the U.S. federal government financed three wars: the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. In the beginning, the U.S. government discriminated greatly in the returns it paid to different classes of creditors; but that pattern of discrimination diminished over time in ways that eventually rehabilitated the reputation of federal paper money as a store of value.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	148-166
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journal of Monetary Economics
Volume	61
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2013.09.002
State	Published - 2014

Keywords

Albert Gallatin
Alexander Hamilton
Discrimination
Greenbacks
Legal tender
Repudiation
Reputation
Ulysses S. Grant

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Finance
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.jmoneco.2013.09.002

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Fiscal discriminations in three wars

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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