So, you sly dog, if '29 and '99 should happen to be comparable times, what should a farmer take in exchange for a bushel of corn? Yen? Euros? Quarts of oil?
Cigarettes and booze (the good stuff, mind you... :0)
Both work exceedingly well as currency during tough times.
As for the question of whether other countries were pegging their currencies to gold, I believe that several were. I believe the Brits went off the gold standard during that time in order to peg to the dollar.
If the PRC devalues, as a number of recent posts here suggest, what will that do to the yen and the dollar? IMO, it will strengthen both, and help to lead both the US and non-Chinese Asia closer to recession.
If the Chinese devalue, it will likely cause a tremendous upheaval in the Bejing govt. A lot of "face" will be lost as a result of a devaluation with unknown consequences for leadership change. And when they do devalue, it will probably not be in large enough increments to make a difference (similar to incremental rate cuts that just never quite added the necessary umph that Japan needed in the early '90s).
Who knows. I have insomnia right now, so I know I can't be thinking straight this early in the morning.... <VBG>
Regards,
Ron
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