Postwar Exchange-Rate Parities

Abstract

Experience after the first World War, 113. — I. Two helpful new concepts: general equilibrium, 115; price disparity, 116. — II. The Belgian devaluation of 1935: the problem posed, 117; the index of price disparity, 118; internal disequilibrium, 122; choice of the new rate, 123. — III. The price-disparity approach, 124. — Significance of cost-of-living index, 125. — Alternative measures of price disparity, 127. — A more sensitive index needed, 127. — Problems of comparability, 128. — Key-country indices, 129. — IV. Comparison with purchasing power parity, 131. — Definition of the equilibrium rate, 132. — Relation to state controls, 134. — Conclusion, 135.