A model of the gold standard
Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde and
Daniel Sanches
Journal of Economic Theory, 2023, vol. 214, issue C
Abstract:
We present a micro-founded monetary model of a small open economy to examine the behavior of money, prices, and output under the gold standard. In particular, we formally analyze Hume's celebrated price-specie flow mechanism. Our framework incorporates the influence of international trade on the money supply in the Home country through gold flows. In the short run, a positive correlation exists between the quantity of money and the price level. Additionally, we demonstrate that money is non-neutral during the transition to the steady state, which has implications for welfare. While the gold standard exposes the Home country to short-term fluctuations in money, prices, and output caused by external shocks, it ensures long-term price stability as the quantity of money and prices only temporarily deviate from their steady-state levels. We discuss the importance of policy coordination for achieving efficiency under the gold standard and consider the role of fiat money in this environment. We also develop a version of the model with two large economies.
Keywords: Gold standard; Specie flows; Non-neutrality of money; Long-run price stability; Inelastic money supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E42 E58 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022053123001552
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
Related works:
Working Paper: A Model of the Gold Standard (2022) 
Working Paper: A Model of the Gold Standard (2022) 
Working Paper: A Model of the Gold Standard (2022) 
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:214:y:2023:i:c:s0022053123001552
DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2023.105759
Access Statistics for this article
Journal of Economic Theory is currently edited by A. Lizzeri and K. Shell
More articles in Journal of Economic Theory from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().