The Continental Dollar: Initial Design, Ideal Performance, and the Credibility of Congressional Commitment /
Grubb, Farley.
The Continental Dollar: Initial Design, Ideal Performance, and the Credibility of Congressional Commitment / Farley Grubb. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w17276 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17276. .
August 2011.
An alternative history of the Continental dollar is constructed from original sources and tested against evidence on prices and exchange rates. The Continental dollar was a zero-interest bearer bond, not a pure fiat currency. The public was promised redemption at face value in specie at fixed future dates. When time-discounting (rational bond pricing) is separated from depreciation, little depreciation occurred before 1779. In 1779, and again in 1780, Congress passed ex post facto laws altering Continental-dollar maturity dates. Because these new dates were not fiscally feasible, Congress' commitment to the Continental dollar lost credibility. Depreciation and collapse followed shortly thereafter.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
The Continental Dollar: Initial Design, Ideal Performance, and the Credibility of Congressional Commitment / Farley Grubb. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w17276 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17276. .
August 2011.
An alternative history of the Continental dollar is constructed from original sources and tested against evidence on prices and exchange rates. The Continental dollar was a zero-interest bearer bond, not a pure fiat currency. The public was promised redemption at face value in specie at fixed future dates. When time-discounting (rational bond pricing) is separated from depreciation, little depreciation occurred before 1779. In 1779, and again in 1780, Congress passed ex post facto laws altering Continental-dollar maturity dates. Because these new dates were not fiscally feasible, Congress' commitment to the Continental dollar lost credibility. Depreciation and collapse followed shortly thereafter.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.