The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE SCOURGE OF INFLATION 433form of barter, the market is anefficient and felicitous devicewhen acceptable money is in circulation;the market tends tomake the goods available whereand when th~y are wanted, and.moneyis flexible: it can call fortha variety of goods.The American cause was notlost as a result of the inflation.It was won despite the inflation.But victory was almost certainlydelayed for several years; muchsuffering resulted; and the peopIe'sconfidence had been sorelytried. Indeed, we have not finishedyet in this work with the consequencesof the inflation, for theyfollowed into the Confederationperiod. But the lessons of the experiencewere not lost on theleaders of that generation. Intime, they were used to try toprevent a recurrence of the mistakes.Unfortunately, we cannotreport that these lessons are stillremembered to the seventh generation.t)1 Curtis Nettels, The Emergence of aNational Economy (New York: Holt,Ririehart and Winston, 1962), p. 42.:2 Quoted in Albert S. Bolles, The FinancialHistory of the United States, I(New York: D. Appleton, 1896, 4th ed.),p.208.:~ See N ettels, Ope cit., p. 24.-Ie See William G. Sumner, The Financierand the Finances of the AmericanRevolution, I (New York: Dodd, Mead,and Co., 1891), p. 98. Sumner indicatesthat one estimate runs well over $300millions, but that it includes reissues.5 See John R. Alden, A History of theAmerican Revolution (New York: AlfredA. Knopf, 1969), p. 255.G See Bolles, Ope cit., pp. 150-57.7 N ettels, Ope cit., p. 24.8 Bolles, Ope cit., p. 39.!) Ibid., p. 43.10 Ibid., p. 39.11 Ibid., p. 193.12 Nettels, Ope cit., p. 24.13 John C. Miller, Triumph of Freedom(Boston: Litt1e~ Brown and Co., 1948),p.458.• FOOTNOTES •Next: The American Triumph.,H Sumner, Ope cit., p. 274.Hi Nettles, Ope cit., p. 25.16 Samuel E. Morison, The Oxford Historyof the United States (New York:Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 230.17 Bolles, Ope cit., p. 260.18 Ibid., pp. 121-22.II) Sumner, Ope cit., pp. 46-47.~o Bolles, Ope cit., p. 119.:n I bid., p. 121.~2 Sumner, op. cit., pp. 56-57.~:{ Ibid., p. 61.~-Ie Bolles, Ope cit., p. 68.~G Ibid., p. 132.~() See Sumner, op. cit., pp. 142-52.~7 Ibid., p. 239.~8 Bolles, Ope cit., p. 139.:29 Ibid., p. 128.30 Ibid., pp. 176-78.:n Ibid., p. 216.32 Ibid., p. 206.33 Ibid.34 Miller, Ope cit., p. 463.35 See Sumner, Ope cit., p. 86.36 Ibid., pp. 94-95.37 Ibid., pp. 152-53.38 Ibid., p. 243.