The Transformation of Money. A Transatlantic History of 'Money Illusion' during the Gold Standard Era, 1870s-1920s

货币的转变。

• 批准号: 415982688
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Sebastian Teupe
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Priority Programmes
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/415982688?language=en
• 关键词: Transformation; Money.; Transatlantic; History; Money

The project investigates historical changes in monetary perceptions as a basis of contemporary experiences and expectations during transitions from deflation to inflation between the 1870s and 1920s. The central thesis is that expectations and social relations in economic contexts changed radically due to alterations in the general price level. However, alterations are not easily observed, and explanations for them depend on contemporary knowledge and past experiences. Therefore, the connection of monetary values to expectations is neither straightforward nor independent of time. The project aims to historicize the connection between the continuous transformation of money and contemporary experiences and expectations. Its objective is to provide a novel historical periodization of changes in monetary perceptions and their effects. It intends to overcome a current dichotomy of conceptual approaches in historical research on monetary phenomena. Cultural narratives focus on contemporary explanations for price changes. Positivist economic historians look at statistical aggregates and their effects on economic growth. Whereas the latter misses relevant changes in the actors' time horizons and sense-making processes, a discursive view remains silent about the economic effects of such changes. By pursuing a practice-theoretical approach the project will base its findings on changes in perceptions and routinized behavior over time. These changes in practices can be related to routines in bargaining as well as to political moves for institutional change, theoretical innovations in economic thinking, or narratives and expectations about the stability and time-dimensions of money. It is by bringing the different dimensions together that it becomes possible to overcome the dichotomy. The project attempts to utilize the concept of "money illusion" to do so. "Money illusion" means that actors are unable to relate the nominal value of money to the real value of goods which has grave economic effects. Instead of simply assuming this to be the case, the concept of "money illusion" will be used heuristically to investigate the contingencies of monetary perceptions, changes over time, and their link to expectations, economic behavior and social relations. The focus will be on industrial relations, creditor-debtor relations in farming, and struggles between households and retailers. Three central research questions guide the project that will focus on the United States, Germany, and Great Britain from the 1870s to the 1920s. First, when and why did understandings and expectations of monetary values change? Second, in what ways and why did experiences and expectations regarding the currencies' purchasing power influence social relations of economic actors? Third, did monetary fluctuations influence social relations in different ways in the three countries, leading to different institutional solutions that in turn influenced processes of expectation formation?

该项目调查了货币观念的历史变化，作为 1870 年代至 1920 年代通货紧缩向通货膨胀过渡期间当代经验和预期的基础。中心论点是，由于总体价格水平的变化，经济背景下的期望和社会关系发生了根本性的变化。然而，改变并不容易被观察到，对它们的解释取决于当代知识和过去的经验。因此，货币价值与预期的联系既不是直接的，也不是独立于时间的。该项目旨在历史化货币不断转变与当代经验和期望之间的联系。其目标是对货币观念的变化及其影响提供一种新颖的历史分期。它旨在克服当前货币现象历史研究中概念方法的二分法。文化叙事侧重于对价格变化的当代解释。实证主义经济历史学家研究统计总量及其对经济增长的影响。尽管后者忽略了行动者的时间视野和意义建构过程的相关变化，但话语观点却对这些变化的经济影响保持沉默。通过追求实践-理论方法，该项目的研究结果将基于随着时间的推移认知和常规行为的变化。这些实践上的变化可能与讨价还价的惯例有关，也可能与制度变革的政治举措、经济思维的理论创新或有关货币稳定性和时间维度的叙述和预期有关。通过将不同的维度结合在一起，就有可能克服二分法。该项目试图利用“金钱幻觉”的概念来做到这一点。 “货币幻觉”是指行为者无法将货币的名义价值与商品的实际价值联系起来，从而产生严重的经济影响。不是简单地假设情况确实如此，而是启发性地使用“货币幻觉”的概念来研究货币观念的偶然性、随时间的变化及其与预期、经济行为和社会关系的联系。重点将放在劳资关系、农业债权人与债务人关系以及家庭和零售商之间的斗争上。该项目以三个中心研究问题为指导，重点关注 1870 年代至 1920 年代的美国、德国和英国。首先，对货币价值的理解和预期何时以及为何发生变化？其次，有关货币购买力的经验和预期以何种方式以及为何影响经济参与者的社会关系？第三，货币波动是否以不同方式影响这三个国家的社会关系，从而导致不同的制度解决方案，进而影响预期形成过程？