The naysayers warned of the ills of the proposed second printing. Of note was Necker. If you recall he was partially responsible for the debt buildup that led to France’s problems. Necker “predicted terrible evils” and offered other means to accomplish economic growth. His opinions were not popular and Necker was “spurned as a man of the past” by the Assembly and ultimately left France forever. A powerful pamphlet, written by Du Pont de Nemours was popular amongst the nays and was read to the Assembly. It declared that doubling the money supply would “simply increase prices, disturb values, alarm capital, diminish legitimate enterprise, and so decreases the demand for both products and for labor. The only persons to be helped by it are the rich who have large debts to pay”.
The arguments of Neckar and Du Pont de Nemours fell on deaf ears. Those in favor rebutted with comments that printing more money was “the only means to insure happiness, glory and liberty to the French nation”. They took the prior debate a step further and now theorized that the gold and silver Livres would be undesirable as Assignats would be the only currency people demanded.
On the 29th of September 1790, a bill authorizing the issuance of 800 million Assignats was passed. The bill also decreed that when Assignats were paid back to the government for land they should be burned. This added measure was thought of as a way to ensure the newly printed money was not inflationary.
White commented: “France was now fully committed to a policy of inflation; and, if there had been any question of this before, all doubts were removed” he went on discussing how “exceedingly difficult it is stopping a nation once in the full tide of a depreciating currency”.
It turns out the money returned to the government wasn’t burned but was re‐issued in smaller denominations. Within a short period 160 million was paid to the government for lands and was reissued “under the pleas of necessity”.
June 1791
Nine months after the second issue of 800 million Assignats, and another cycle of good economic activity followed by bad, pressure grew for more money printing. With little fanfare or debate, a new issue of 600 million was issued. With it, once again came “solemn pledges to keep down the amount in circulation”.
This experience, like the previous two, was followed by a brief period of optimism that quickly faded. With each successive printing came currency depreciation and higher prices. Despite the beliefs of those in favor of printing, hoarding of gold and silver backed coins was occurring. The French people were watching their paper money lose value and becoming more interested in preserving their wealth. The coins were in limited supply while paper money was being printed with increasing frequency. In their minds, gold and silver offered the stability that paper money was rapidly losing.
“Still another troublesome fact began to now appear. Though paper money had increased in amount, prosperity had steadily diminished. In spite of all the paper issues, commercial activity grew more and more spasmodic. Enterprise was chilled and business became more and more stagnant”.
With each new issue came increased trade and a stronger economy. The problem was the activity wasn’t based on anything but new money. As such, it had very little staying power and the positive benefits quickly eroded. Businesses were handcuffed. They found it hard to make any decisions in fear the currency would continue to drop in value. Prices continued to rise. Speculation and hoarding were becoming the primary drivers of the economy. “Commerce was dead; betting took its place”. With higher prices, employees were laid off as merchants struggled to cover increasing costs.
The only ones truly benefiting were manufacturers producing goods for foreign countries and the stock brokers. The rapidly declining value of their currency attracted orders from other countries that were now able to purchase French goods very cheaply. Those businesses and consumers that relied on goods from outside the country were battered by higher prices. With the increased money supply and economic uncertainty the “ordinary motives for savings and care diminished”. Speculation increased significantly. While some stock investors in the urban regions were exploiting the condition, the onus fell on the working man. Inflation, weakening currency and lack of jobs was damaging to a large majority of Frenchmen.
The economic conditions also brought on more crime and increased instances of bribery of government officials. Conditions were described by White as “the decay of a true sense of national pride”.
December 1791
A new issue of 300 million more Assignats was ordered to be printed. With that decree it was also ordered that a previous limit on the total amount to be printed be repudiated. By this point it was estimated the value of their currency was cut in half and inflation was rampant.
April‐July 1792
Another 600 million Assignats were printed. The presses rolled on and after a few more printings it was estimated a total of 3,500 million Assignats now existed. The issuances continued through 1792 and 1793.
“The consequences of these over issues now began to be more painfully evident to the people at large. Articles of common consumption became enormously dear and prices were constantly rising. Orators in the Legislative Assembly, clubs, local meetings and elsewhere now endeavored to enlighten people by assigning every reason for this depreciation save the true one. They declaimed against the corruption of the ministry, the want of patriotism among the Moderates, the intrigues of the emigrant nobles, the hard‐heartedness of the rich, the monopolizing spirit of the merchants, the perversity of the shopkeepers, ‐‐‐each and all of these as causes of the difficulty”.
French Revolution
Throughout 1792 and 1793 there were instances of mobs demanding basic necessities such as bread, sugar and coffee. Peaceful demonstrations turned violent and plundering of the local shops was commonplace. The French Revolution was born.
Money printing was not the sole cause of the revolution, but it certainly helped light the fuse. In all fairness, the French people were demanding the same liberties they helped America fight for. The idea of a Monarchy was fading and those supporting democratic principles were leading the charge. In hindsight, money printing was a last ditch effort to create prosperity and keep the Revolution at bay. Poverty and despair spread through France. Malnutrition and hunger due to lost employment and inflation fed the Revolution. In 1792 a republic was proclaimed and in the following year King Louis XVI was sent to the guillotines.
Conclusion
The story retold in this article echoes that of other nations before and after it. The language, promises, and ultimately the excuses used by the politicians are a familiar refrain. There is nothing new with money printing or “quantitative easing” as modern day central bankers call it. Despite the passing of over 200 years and substantial development in the world, plus ça change (the more that changes, the more it is the same thing).
As stressed in part 1 of this series “Shorting the Federal Reserve”, gold has a long history serving as a tool of wealth preservation. After numerous financial crises caused by the debasement of currencies have modern day economists and central bankers finally figured out how to print money with no consequences? Despite our wishes to the contrary, every action still has an equal and opposite reaction (consequence). The investment pundits who see nothing wrong with the actions of the world central banks regard holding gold as ridiculous. We consider an allocation to gold as a matter of prudence given what we have seen and expect to see from central bankers desperate to maintain status quo.
Hopefully after reading this and “Shorting the Federal Reserve” you will understand a little protection may go a long way in what may not be as clear cut an economic future as some would lead us to believe.
Thanks for reading.
Twitter: @michaellebowitz
Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.
