History & Area Studies / Thematic History / Economic History & Industrialization
Did France Cause the Great Depression? The Hidden Culprit Behind the 1929 Crash
Conventional wisdom blames the Federal Reserve for the Great Depression, but economist Douglas A. Irwin's research reveals a different story. France's gold hoarding from 1927 to 1932, when its share of global gold reserves jumped from 7% to 27%, created an artificial gold shortage that forced other countries into deflation. This video explores how France's sterilization policies and refusal to play by the gold standard rules deepened the global crisis more than the U.S. did. Irwin's paper, published in 2010, uses historical data and counterfactual simulations to show that if France had maintained its 1928 gold reserve ratio, the devastating deflation of 1929-1933 could have been avoided. Watch to discover why Keynes called France's gold policy a 'curse' and how a single nation's pursuit of safety triggered worldwide economic collapse.
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