Eugen Peter Schwiedland: Review of Hare and Yves-Guyot/Raffalovich (1922)

Schwiedland’s collective review assesses three monetary pamphlets by Sir Lancelot Hare and Inflation et déflation by Yves-Guyot and Arthur Raffalovich. He identifies their shared advocacy of deflation, then tests their historical and theoretical foundations before delivering a common criticism of their practical adequacy.

Guyot and Raffalovich’s historical account is judged incomplete, though Schwiedland singles out its account of French assignats: in 1793, trading in coins and refusing assignats were threatened with the guillotine, yet the paper currency had to be abolished in 1797. This juxtaposition makes the historical example significant as evidence of the limits of coercive monetary policy. His assessment of Hare is more compressed:

Die Ausführungen von Hare beruhen auf dürftigen theoretischen Grundlagen.

English translation: Hare's expositions rest upon meagre theoretical foundations.

The review does not develop a competing monetary theory. Its decisive move is to distinguish advocating deflation from adequately confronting the obstacles to carrying it out:

Keine der vier Schriften faßt die Schwierigkeiten, welchen die Durchführung jeder Deflation begegnet, entsprechend ins Auge.

English translation: None of the four writings adequately confronts the difficulties which the carrying through of any deflation encounters.

This final judgment unifies the four notices. Schwiedland’s critical standard is the practical burden of monetary adjustment, which neither the historical discussion nor Hare’s theoretical arguments sufficiently address. The brief review matters as a warning against treating deflation as a remedy whose implementation can be taken for granted; it leaves the particular difficulties unspecified.