With a Bang, Not a Whimper: Pricking Germany's 'Stock Market Bubble' in 1927 and the Slide into Depression
36 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2002
There are 2 versions of this paper
With a Bang, Not a Whimper: Pricking Germany's 'Stock Market Bubble' in 1927 and the Slide into Depression
Date Written: March 2002
Abstract
Asset price inflation presents central banks with a puzzle. I examine the case of Germany, 1925-7, when the Reichsbank intervened to bring down stock prices, rectify imbalances and curb speculation. Present value relations, comparisons with historical valuation measures and the time-series properties of the data suggest that there was no bubble in the German stock market. The German central bank under Hjalmar Schacht was therefore wrong to be concerned about stock prices, since no bubble can be discerned. I examine the effects of the misguided intervention by estimating a number of VARs. These suggest that a substantial part of the slowdown in the rate of capital formation after 1927 could have been avoided without the intervention.
Keywords: Stock market, foreign lending, fixed exchange rates, asset prices, bubbles, Germany, monetary policy
JEL Classification: E31, E43, E44, N14, N24
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Monetary Policy and Asset Price Volatility
By Ben S. Bernanke and Mark Gertler
-
Asset Prices, Financial and Monetary Stability: Exploring the Nexus
-
Boom-Busts in Asset Prices, Economic Instability, and Monetary Policy
By Michael D. Bordo and Olivier Jeanne
-
Boom-Busts in Asset Prices, Economic Instability and Monetary Policy
By Michael D. Bordo and Olivier Jeanne
-
Whither Monetary and Financial Stability? The Implications of Evolving Policy Regimes
-
U.S. Stock Market Crashes and Their Aftermath: Implications for Monetary Policy
-
Credit Booms Gone Bust: Monetary Policy, Leverage Cycles and Financial Crises, 1870-2008
By Moritz Schularick and Alan M. Taylor
-
Credit Booms Gone Bust: Monetary Policy, Leverage Cycles and Financial Crises, 1870-2008
By Moritz Schularick and Alan M. Taylor
-
Securing Sustainable Price Stability: Should Credit Come Back from the Wilderness?