Jerrek
10-20-03, 12:50 AM
Did you know?
From 1880 to 1896, the price level in the U.S. economy fell by 23 percent. Because this event was unanticipated, it led to a major redistribution of wealth. Most farmers in the western part of the country were debtors. Their creditors were the bankers in the east. When the price level fell, it caused the real value of these debts to rise, which enriched the banks at the expense of the farmers.
According to populist politicians of the time, the solution to the farmers' problem was the free coinage of silver. During this period, the United States was operating with a gold standard. The quantity of gold determined the money supply and, thereby, the price level. The free-silver advocates wanted silver, as well as gold, to be used as money. If adopted, this proposal would have increased the money supply, pushed up the price level, and reduced the real burdern of the farmers' debts.
The debate over silver was heated, and it was central to the politics of the 1890s.
L. Frank Baum, author of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was a midwestern journalist. When he sat down to write a story for children, he made the characters represent protagonists in the major political battle of his time.
Dorothy: Traditional American Values
Toto: Prohibitionist Party, aslo called the Teetotalers
Scarecrow: Farmers
Tin Woodsman: Industrial workers
Cowardly lion: William Jennings Bryan [Democrat candidate for president in 1896]
Munchkins: Citizens of the east
Wicked witch of the east: Grover Cleveland
Wicked witch of the west: William McKinley
Wizard: Marcus Alonzo Hanna, chairman of the Republican Party
Oz: Abbreviation for ounce of gold
Yellow brick road: gold standard.
:D
(from Principles of Macroeconomics, page 251 to 252)
From 1880 to 1896, the price level in the U.S. economy fell by 23 percent. Because this event was unanticipated, it led to a major redistribution of wealth. Most farmers in the western part of the country were debtors. Their creditors were the bankers in the east. When the price level fell, it caused the real value of these debts to rise, which enriched the banks at the expense of the farmers.
According to populist politicians of the time, the solution to the farmers' problem was the free coinage of silver. During this period, the United States was operating with a gold standard. The quantity of gold determined the money supply and, thereby, the price level. The free-silver advocates wanted silver, as well as gold, to be used as money. If adopted, this proposal would have increased the money supply, pushed up the price level, and reduced the real burdern of the farmers' debts.
The debate over silver was heated, and it was central to the politics of the 1890s.
L. Frank Baum, author of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was a midwestern journalist. When he sat down to write a story for children, he made the characters represent protagonists in the major political battle of his time.
Dorothy: Traditional American Values
Toto: Prohibitionist Party, aslo called the Teetotalers
Scarecrow: Farmers
Tin Woodsman: Industrial workers
Cowardly lion: William Jennings Bryan [Democrat candidate for president in 1896]
Munchkins: Citizens of the east
Wicked witch of the east: Grover Cleveland
Wicked witch of the west: William McKinley
Wizard: Marcus Alonzo Hanna, chairman of the Republican Party
Oz: Abbreviation for ounce of gold
Yellow brick road: gold standard.
:D
(from Principles of Macroeconomics, page 251 to 252)