Working Paper: NBER ID: w12666
Authors: Hugh Rockoff
Abstract: This paper explores some of the scholarship that influenced Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz's "A Monetary History". It shows that the ideas of several Chicago economists -- Henry Schultz, Henry Simons, Lloyd Mints, and Jacob Viner -- left clear marks. It argues, however, that the most important influence may have been Wesley Clair Mitchell and his classic book "Business Cycles" (1913). Mitchell, and the NBER, provided the methodology for "A Monetary History", in particular the emphasis on compiling long time series of monthly data and analyzing the effects of specific variables on the business cycle. A common methodology and the stability of monetary relationships produced similar conclusions about money. Friedman and Schwartz deemphasized Mitchell's "bank-centric" view of the monetary transmission process, but they reinforced Mitchell's conclusion that money had an independent, predictable, and important influence on the business cycle.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: B22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Changes in money supply (E51) | Changes in economic activity (E39) |
| Changes in money supply (E51) | Business cycle (E32) |
| Bank lending rates (G21) | Economic activity (E29) |
| Changes in money supply (E51) | National income (P44) |
| Banking crises (G01) | Economic downturns (E32) |