Milton Friedman - The Great Contraction, 1929-1933:

The Great Contraction

The Great Contraction 19291933

With a New Preface by Anna Jacobson Schwartz and a New Introduction by Peter L. Bernstein

MILTON FRIEDMAN AND ANNA JACOBSON SCHWARTZ

A Study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, New York

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON AND OXFORD

New Preface and Introduction: The Great Contraction, Seen from the Perspective of 2007 copyright 200 by Princeton University Press

The Great Contraction, 19291933 copyright 1963, 1965 by the National Bureau of Economic Research

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ISBN-13 (pbk.): 9780691137940

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Friedman, Milton, 19122006.

The great contraction, 19291933 / with a new preface by Anna Jacobson Schwartz and a new introduction by Peter L. Bernstein ; [by] Milton Friedman and Anna Jacobson Schwartz.

p. cm. (Princeton classic edition)

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 978-0-691-13794-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. MoneyUnited StatesHistory. 2. Currency questionUnited StatesHistory. 3. Monetary policyUnited StatesHistory. I. Schwartz, Anna Jacobson. II. National Bureau of Economic Research. III. Title.

HG538.F858 2009

332.4973dc22 2008007509

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in New Baskerville Typeface Printed on acid-free paper.

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NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH FEBRUARY 27, 1980

OFFICERS

Arthur F. Burns, Honorary Chairman

James J. OLeary. Chairman

Eli Shapiro, Vice Chairman

Martin S. Feldstein, President

Charles E. McLure, Jr., Vice President

Charles A. Walworth, Treasurer

Sam Parker, Director of Finance and Administration

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

DIRECTORS BY UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENT

DIRECTORS BY APPOINTMENT OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Eugene A. Birnbaurn, American Management Associations

Carl F. Christ, American Economic Association

Stephan F. Kaliski, Canadian Economics Association

Franklin A. Lindsay, Committee for Economic Development

Albert G. Matamoros, National Association of Business Economists

Paul W. McCracken, American Statistical Association

Douglass C. North, Economic History Association

Rudolph A. Oswald, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

G. Edward Schuh, American Agricultural Economics Association

James C. Van Horne, American Finance Association

Charles A. Walworth, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

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