Lecture VII
The Evolution Of The Present Monetary Crisis Since 1929, there have been many important monetary developments all over the world. However, most of the emphasis tonight will be on those in my country - the United States. Its monetary and economic situation is extremely important for other countries, because capitalism reached its highest development there, and the values of so many other currencies depend upon the value of the dollar. When anything happens to the value of the dollar, it affects both the trade and the currencies, and therefore the people, of the entire Western world. So we are all vitally interested in what happens to the dollar. Before proceeding beyond 1929, let us review some of the important figures as they developed. In Table XXI, page 224, we showed the brokers' loans.1 These are loans made on stock exchange securities. We spoke last night of how they 1. Data through 1941 are taken from Banking and Monetary Statistics (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1943). Figures from 1941-1960 were taken from the pertinent sections of Supplements to Banking and Monetary Statistics. Still later figures have appeared in monthly issues of the Federal Reserve Bulletin, also published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
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