Skip to:
  1. Main navigation
  2. Main content
  3. Footer
Economic Commentary

Why Is Stable Money Such a Big Deal?

Download pdf

What do attempts to counterfeit an enemy’s currency during wartime have in common with decisions to adopt another country’s currency during peacetime? Both are inspired by the power of a stable monetary standard and, conversely, the consequences of losing it. Both illustrate why preserving the value of the nation’s currency is a central bank’s most important responsibility. This Commentary is based on a speech given (jointly with Mike Bryan) to the Cleveland City Club New Leaders group on February 19, 2002.

05.01.2002EC 5/1/2002

The views authors express in Economic Commentary are theirs and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The series editor is Tasia Hane. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This paper and its data are subject to revision; please visit clevelandfed.org for updates.

Suggested Citation

Altig, David. 2002. “Why Is Stable Money Such a Big Deal?” Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Economic Commentary 5/1/2002.

This work by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International