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Inflation in the Weimar Republic

2011-08-08T21:04:57Z

An.fear.glas: /* After the War */ grammar, clarification, expansion of a few clauses to make the meaning plain

[[File:Weimar Republic notes used as wallpaper, 1923.jpg|thumb|right|Weimar Republic notes being used as wallpaper, 1923]]
The '''inflation in the [[Weimar Republic]]''' was a period of [[hyperinflation]] in [[Germany]] between 1921 and 1923. It was one of the most extreme hyperinflations in the world's history.

==Before the end of the War==
The [[German Empire]] in 1914 was economically the most powerful country in Europe. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], the total money supply was at around 6 billion Marks: composed of ''Reichsbanknoten'' (banknotes from the [[Reichsbank]]), ''Reichskassenscheine'' (imperial treasury notes), private banknotes, gold coins and token coins. The duty to redeem the ''Reichsbanknoten'' for gold by the Reichsbank was repealed. One third of the nominal value of banknotes still had to be backed by gold, current German money, or the ''Reichskassenscheine''. In addition to these, however, a new type of banknote was also allowed as backing: the ''Darlehenskassenscheine'', which were issued by newly formed ''Darlehenskassen'', that is, loan institutes run by the Reichsbank. The money could be issued up to the value of the granted loans, where [[collateral]] could be goods or [[bond]]s. These banknotes were not [[legal tender]], but were fully accepted by public cashier's offices and thus their acceptance was assured. This one law removed all limits on the creation of new money.

The public cashier's offices had to deliver all incoming gold coins to the Reichsbank. A massive ad campaign persuaded the population to give their gold coins to the Empire. The people eagerly responded, and about 1 billion in gold was exchanged for Reichsbanknoten.

With the outbreak of the war, Germany's exports shrank dramatically, while imports fell only somewhat, causing significant outflows of gold. This, combined with the cost of the military, made an expansion of the money supply necessary—at the end of 1914 it was at 7.2 billion. The large occupied territories (like [[Belgium]], [[Russia]], [[Poland]], and [[Romania]]) needed money in local currencies; their money was backed by the Reichsbank and its notes.

As the inflation continued, the country instituted [[price controls]] to attempt to limit the rising prices. First established in 1914 for everyday items, the number of regulated goods grew throughout the war.<ref name="Gaettens_German">Richard Gaettens. ''Geschichte der Inflationen Von Altertum bis zum Gegenwart'' (German: History of Inflations from Old Ages to the Present), ''Die grosse Deutsche Inflation von 1914 bis 1923'' (The Great German Inflation from 1914 to 1923) p. 237-278. ISBN: ISBN 3-87045-211-0. Referenced 2010-11-21.</ref>

The [[First World War]] cost Germany in total 160 billion Mark. In 1914–1918 only 13.1 percent of the costs were financed out of recurring revenues. (In [[World War Two]], September 1939 to September 1944 it was about 50% percent of the costs.) Of the costs, 24.8% were paid as "floating debt" (i.e., by printing money), while the remaining 62.1% were state bonds signed by German citizens. In comparison, [[Great Britain]] paid 28% out of its recurring tax revenues. The reason for this financing was a lack of tax base: the ''Reich'' did not have a unified financial administration, and the German states were still very independent.<ref name="Aly">Götz Aly. "Hitlers Volksstaat" (in English published as "Hitler's Beneficiaries: How the Nazis Bought the German People"), p.33. ISBN 978-3-596-15863-8. Referenced 2011-03-19.</ref>

==After the War==
The armistice was signed on the 11 November 1918 [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends], to be followed by a peace treaty.

The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed on on 28th June of 1919. [[Germany]] accepted it under heavy pressure shortly after the [[Blockade of Germany|blockade]] of their ports was removed, which allowed much needed resources and food supplies to be imported. Arguably, the reparations were the most important cause of the destruction of the German [[mark]]. As a part of the peace conditions, Germany as well as its allies accepted their role as belligerents, and responsibility for all damages and losses caused by their attacks on their neighbours. All damages would be repaid, including pensions for war victims and the costs for the upkeep of the occupation army. All heavy weaponry would be handed over with the entire war fleet and many locomotives and railroad cars. A large part of the business fleet had to be delivered, and millions of tons of coal was to be supplied to several countries for up to ten years.

The German government was in financial trouble even before the Treaty - and the revolutions, uprisings and strikes did little to help. Therefore, several new taxes and tariffs were introduced. The tariffs should be paid in gold and increased dramatically. The expenses were still not covered. The government's debt rose from 38.6 billion in January, 1919, to 176.6 billion in May, 1921, the banknotes in circulation rose in the same period from 23.647 to 71.863 billion. If the public did not take over a large part of the debt, the money supply could have been even higher. The exchange rate to the [[U.S. dollar|dollar]] rose from 7.95 to 65.18 in this time.

Germany had to start paying reparations immediately, their final value was assessed in January 1921. With gradually increasing payments, it should pay 226 billion goldmark over a period of 42 years. In addition, every year should Germany pay 12% of its exports, as security should serve all tariffs and all import and export taxes. The German side agreed to the payments, providing the already paid sums were subtracted from the total; the 12% of all exports were declared to be impossible to accept.

[[Lloyd George]], Britain's Prime Minister strongly refused these suggestions. Several cities in Rhine area were occupied and the customs in occupied areas were confiscated. A new payment plan was formed in April 1921 and, coupled with an [[London Ultimatum|ultimatum]] of occupying the whole Ruhr region, it was accepted by the German government. The new plan had lowered the total reparations to 136 billion goldmark. 2 billion goldmark should be paid each year, and a higher part of the exports (26%).

For the first down payment of 1 billion goldmark in August 1921, the German government was able to get, with great difficulties, 600 million in gold. The remaining 400 million came from short-term loands from banks. The exchange rate with the dollar rose to 86.37 marks. The short-term loans needed constant refinancing and the exchange rate rose to to 115.50 in September. By the time of the next payment in November was the rate at 310 mark per dollar. In this period Germany also lost the industrially strong Upper Silesia.

The difficulties of getting the necessary means led the German government to announce, that it could not make the payments in 1922 and requested a reprieve. The attempts to resolve the issue failed and by the end of the year was the exchange rate 7650 marks per dollar. The debt grew from January, 1922 by 52 billion, in the next three months by 150 billion and in the final three months by over 1000 billion. The prices and wages followed the debasement of the mark. While initially was over a half of the debt held by the public, at the end of the year was most of it held by the Reichsbank. As a consequence, the banknotes in circulation rose from 115 to 316 billion, then to 1280 billion in December.

The Reichsbank was made nominally independent from the government, but that action didn't stop the inflation. The backing of banknotes was temporarily repealed. Germany requested to be freed from all payments for at least a few years, until the necessary reforms were made. A conference in Paris in January, 1923, failed to resolve the issues, where Germany was blocked by France. The [[Ruhr]] was occupied.

The occupation was considered a breach of the Treaty of Versailles. The German government stopped all payments to France and Belgium and announced passive resistance in the occupied areas. The French army went aggressively after income of any sort, with confiscations and downright theft. The inflation broken out in full. The exchange rate of the dollar rose in the first six months of 1923 to 74 750 mark. In August it was a million, in October a billion, in November it was over a trillion per dollar. The impact on life was unimaginable and the mark effectively stopped being a means of payment.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Reform of the mark==
The reform of the mark was considered since 1920. Many called for the return of the goldmark, others suggested backing by other means. By the year 1922 were in agricultural areas like Mecklenburg an Oldenburg prices and rents based on a pound of rye. Several districts issued bonds quoted in the price of rye. Other commodities were used, like coal or potash to back loans and bonds.

The escalating economic situation with plundering and revolts called for action. On the 27th September, 1923, the government declared a state of emergency and abdicated. A new government completed the reform plan: the new currency should be the '''[[Rentenmark]]''', based on gold. It was not declared [[legal tender]], no conversion ratio with the paper mark was set, nor was it actually backed by gold - there was not enough of it in Germany. The issuing bank, the "[[Deutsche Rentenbank]]" was independent from the outset. The new money was not based on the state, but on the economy itself. The agricultural sector and the industries each took on a half of the bank's capital in the form of debt - [[mortgage]]s in the value of 4% of all lands used for agriculture and forestry, and debt issued by the industries, crafts and trades, each in amount of 1600 million goldmark. The basic capital of 3200 million mark was the backing of the Rentenmark, and the bank could issue up to this amount of the new money (but the top limit was never reached, the maximum in circulation was 2.1 billion<ref name="Rentenbank_History">Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. [http://www.rentenbank.de/cms/dokumente/10011459_262579/8852134e/Historie.pdf "Die Geschichte der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank"] (pdf, in ''German''), referenced 2010-11-19.</ref>).

Anyone who would deliver at least 500 Rentenmark could redeem them for "Rentenbriefe" - bonds with a 5% interest rate, quoted in goldmark. The Rentenbank issued them in an amount equal to its capital. It could issue money (the Rentenmarks) only up to the amount of Rentenbriefe it held. In this way, the Rentenmark should be a bridge to a new golden mark.

The Rentenbank was founded on 15th October of 1923 and [[Hjalmar Schacht]] was put into a key government position to execute the reform plan. The stabilisation was done according to the exchange rate to the dollar on the Stock Exchange in Berlin, which was at the 20th November 4200 billion mark.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

===Notgeld===
Cities have produced metal money during the war and after it. With the ever-growing devaluation of the currency, the demand grew correspondingly.

The Reichsbank had to call upon private printing works for the production of banknotes, in 1923 were 30 paper factories and 133 printing works busy with their production. The number of printing presses (1723 running day and night in autumn 1923) could be still increased, but the capacities for the special paper for banknotes could not keep up with the demand. The Reichsbank therefore welcomed and in many cases supported the issue of ''Notgeld'' (emergency money) by municipalities, districts, provinces and private enterprises. It was estimated, that at the end of 1922 there were about 20 billion in circulation - as opposed to 1280 billion of official money. By the end of 1923 there were 400 to 500 billion of Notgeld in value of about 500 million goldmark, so about the same amount as the official banknotes. There was also "value-stable" money in the same amount. The Notgeld was not only used to assist the Reichsbank, but many produced it to great profit.

In November, 1923, the Reichsbank stopped accepting the Notgeld, and wanted to exchange its sizable reserves in their places of issue, causing a great outcry. It took until the end of October, 1924, to exchange most of the Notgeld and the economy could finally stabilize.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Effects of the inflation==
Germany had a large and wealthy middle class, and exactly this class was the hardest hit. Especially desperate was the situation of people living off rents. Many families of high repute and constituting a significant part of the higher officialdom lost all of their property and status. Some have chosen the ''Freitod'' ("free death"). The Reichsgericht (Imperial Court) decided, that a mark equaled a mark, and that old debts could be settled in worthless paper money. Many did so; the taxes were also paid in this way, leaving the state to live exclusively from the printing press.

The price of a mark differed strongly at the stock exchanges outside from the prices in Germany. This attracted many foreigners to buy and live in Germany for cheap, buying up everything from common goods to company shares and land. The Germans were not less inclined to speculation. From this period comes the term "Luftgeschäft" (lit. "air-business"), trading of nonexistent goods in a long chain, where the last buyer was the fool. By 1922 were most people still not aware of what was going on, and growing loans and prices seemed like great opportunities.

The rationing laws, that basically forced families to break them and use the black market, shook the foundations of trust in laws. The wages of officials were always raised too late, leading to corruption. A shocking number of packages were misappropriated at the railways and the post office. Many felt betrayed by the state.

In 1923 fell the currency apart. The [[Flight into real goods|flight into "real values"]] began, everyone sought to get rid of the money as fast as possible. By that time, it wasn't even worth robbing a money transport, as it was in 1919 or 1920. According to the German economist Adolf Weber, the inflation caused much worse damage than the destructive four years of war.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

The last reparation payment of £59m was made on Sunday, October 3, 2010.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315869/Germany-end-World-War-One-reparations-92-years-59m-final-payment.html Mail Online]</ref>

==Inflation in numbers==
[[File:Weimar Hyperinflation Chart.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Graphical representation on a logarithmic scale of Weimar hyperinflation]]
{| class="prettytable" style="text-align:right"
! Date<ref name="Gaettens_German" />
! Exchange rate of the dollar in [[mark]]s
! Banknotes in circulation, millions
! Floating debt in treasuries, total, billions of marks
|-
| January 1919
| 7.95
| 23 647
| 58.6
|-
| April 1919
| 11.26
| 26 628
| 67.2
|-
| July 1919
| 13.75
| 29 268
| 76.1
|-
| October 1919
| 23.83
| 30 928
| 83.3
|-
| January 1920
| 49.80
| 37 443
| 88.3
|-
| April 1920
| 67
| 47 939
| 95.1
|-
| July 1920
| 37.90
| 55 768
| 112.7
|-
| October 1920
| 61.62
| 63 596
| 140.6
|-
| January 1921
| 74.50
| 66 620
| 155.5
|-
| April 1921
| 62.62
| 70 839
| 172.7
|-
| July 1921
| 75
| 77 390
| 190.8
|-
| October 1921
| 124.50
| 91 527
| 202.9
|-
| January 1922
| 186.75
| 115 375
| 255.9
|-
| April 1922
| 298
| 140 420
| 281.1
|-
| July 1922
| 402
| 189 794
| 308.0
|-
| October 1922
| 1815
| 469 456
| 331.5
|-
| January 1923
| 7260
| 1 984 496
| 2081.8
|-
| February 1923
| 41 500
| 3 512 787
| 3588.0
|-
| March 1923
| 22 800
| 5 517 919
| 6601.3
|-
| April 1923
| 21 100
| 6 545 984
| 8442.3
|-
| May 1923
| 31 700
| 8 563 749
| 10 275.0
|-
| June 1923
| 74 750
| 17 291 061
| 22 019.8
|-
| July 1923
| 160 000
| 43 594 737
| 57 848.9
|-
| August 1923
| 1 100 000
| 663 200 050
| 1 196 294.7
|-
| September 1923
| 9 700 000
| 28 228 815 494
| 46 716 616.4
|-
| October 1923
| 242 000 000
| 2 496 822 909 039
| 6 907 511 102.8
|-
| November 1923
| 130 000 000 000
| 400 267 640 301 854
| 191 580 465 422.1
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://mises.org/books/hyperinflation.pdf Exchange, Prices, and Production in Hyper-Inflation: Germany, 1920-1923] (pdf) by E. W. Kemmerer
* [http://mises.org/MMMP/MMMP7.ASP The Great German Inflation] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap9a.asp Omnipotent Government: Weimar and its Collapse] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/books/economicsofinflation.pdf 'The Economics of Inflation'] (pdf) by Costantino Bresciani-Turroni, 1931
* [http://www.econ.puc-rio.br/pdf/TD159.pdf 'The Rentenmark Miracle'] (pdf), Gustavo H.B. Franco, May 1987
* [http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE7_1_1.pdf Hyperinflation and Hyperreality: Thomas Mann in Light of Austrian Economics], by Paul A. Cantor, 1994
* [http://mises.org/daily/3661 My Summer Reading: Hyper-Inflation in Weimar Germany] by Ralph Fucetola, September 2009
* [[Wikipedia:Inflation in the Weimar Republic|Inflation in the Weimar Republic]] on Wikipedia
[[Category:Inflations|Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:History of Germany]]

Inflation in the Weimar Republic

2011-08-08T20:59:04Z

An.fear.glas: /* After the War */ Peace treaties almost always include fear and other negative emotions on the part of the loser. 'emotionally stirring' verbiage removed.

[[File:Weimar Republic notes used as wallpaper, 1923.jpg|thumb|right|Weimar Republic notes being used as wallpaper, 1923]]
The '''inflation in the [[Weimar Republic]]''' was a period of [[hyperinflation]] in [[Germany]] between 1921 and 1923. It was one of the most extreme hyperinflations in the world's history.

==Before the end of the War==
The [[German Empire]] in 1914 was economically the most powerful country in Europe. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], the total money supply was at around 6 billion Marks: composed of ''Reichsbanknoten'' (banknotes from the [[Reichsbank]]), ''Reichskassenscheine'' (imperial treasury notes), private banknotes, gold coins and token coins. The duty to redeem the ''Reichsbanknoten'' for gold by the Reichsbank was repealed. One third of the nominal value of banknotes still had to be backed by gold, current German money, or the ''Reichskassenscheine''. In addition to these, however, a new type of banknote was also allowed as backing: the ''Darlehenskassenscheine'', which were issued by newly formed ''Darlehenskassen'', that is, loan institutes run by the Reichsbank. The money could be issued up to the value of the granted loans, where [[collateral]] could be goods or [[bond]]s. These banknotes were not [[legal tender]], but were fully accepted by public cashier's offices and thus their acceptance was assured. This one law removed all limits on the creation of new money.

The public cashier's offices had to deliver all incoming gold coins to the Reichsbank. A massive ad campaign persuaded the population to give their gold coins to the Empire. The people eagerly responded, and about 1 billion in gold was exchanged for Reichsbanknoten.

With the outbreak of the war, Germany's exports shrank dramatically, while imports fell only somewhat, causing significant outflows of gold. This, combined with the cost of the military, made an expansion of the money supply necessary—at the end of 1914 it was at 7.2 billion. The large occupied territories (like [[Belgium]], [[Russia]], [[Poland]], and [[Romania]]) needed money in local currencies; their money was backed by the Reichsbank and its notes.

As the inflation continued, the country instituted [[price controls]] to attempt to limit the rising prices. First established in 1914 for everyday items, the number of regulated goods grew throughout the war.<ref name="Gaettens_German">Richard Gaettens. ''Geschichte der Inflationen Von Altertum bis zum Gegenwart'' (German: History of Inflations from Old Ages to the Present), ''Die grosse Deutsche Inflation von 1914 bis 1923'' (The Great German Inflation from 1914 to 1923) p. 237-278. ISBN: ISBN 3-87045-211-0. Referenced 2010-11-21.</ref>

The [[First World War]] cost Germany in total 160 billion Mark. In 1914–1918 only 13.1 percent of the costs were financed out of recurring revenues. (In [[World War Two]], September 1939 to September 1944 it was about 50% percent of the costs.) Of the costs, 24.8% were paid as "floating debt" (i.e., by printing money), while the remaining 62.1% were state bonds signed by German citizens. In comparison, [[Great Britain]] paid 28% out of its recurring tax revenues. The reason for this financing was a lack of tax base: the ''Reich'' did not have a unified financial administration, and the German states were still very independent.<ref name="Aly">Götz Aly. "Hitlers Volksstaat" (in English published as "Hitler's Beneficiaries: How the Nazis Bought the German People"), p.33. ISBN 978-3-596-15863-8. Referenced 2011-03-19.</ref>

==After the War==
The armistice was signed on the 11 November 1918 [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends], to be followed by a peace treaty.

The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed on on 28th June of 1919. [[Germany]] accepted it under heaviest pressure, shortly after the [[Blockade of Germany|blockade]] was removed, allowing much needed resources and food supplies to be imported. Arguably, the reparations were the most important cause of the destruction of the German [[mark]]. As a part of the peace conditions, that Germany with its allies accepted their role as attackers and responsibility for all damages and losses caused. All damages should be repaid, including pensions for war victims and the costs for the upkeep of the occupation army. All heavy weaponry should be handed over, with the entire war fleet and many locomotives and railroad cars. A large part of the business fleet had to be delivered and coal in millions of tons was to be supplied to several countries for up to ten years.

The German government was in financial trouble even before the Treaty - and the revolutions, uprisings and strikes did little to help. Therefore, several new taxes and tariffs were introduced. The tariffs should be paid in gold and increased dramatically. The expenses were still not covered. The government's debt rose from 38.6 billion in January, 1919, to 176.6 billion in May, 1921, the banknotes in circulation rose in the same period from 23.647 to 71.863 billion. If the public did not take over a large part of the debt, the money supply could have been even higher. The exchange rate to the [[U.S. dollar|dollar]] rose from 7.95 to 65.18 in this time.

Germany had to start paying reparations immediately, their final value was assessed in January 1921. With gradually increasing payments, it should pay 226 billion goldmark over a period of 42 years. In addition, every year should Germany pay 12% of its exports, as security should serve all tariffs and all import and export taxes. The German side agreed to the payments, providing the already paid sums were subtracted from the total; the 12% of all exports were declared to be impossible to accept.

[[Lloyd George]], Britain's Prime Minister strongly refused these suggestions. Several cities in Rhine area were occupied and the customs in occupied areas were confiscated. A new payment plan was formed in April 1921 and, coupled with an [[London Ultimatum|ultimatum]] of occupying the whole Ruhr region, it was accepted by the German government. The new plan had lowered the total reparations to 136 billion goldmark. 2 billion goldmark should be paid each year, and a higher part of the exports (26%).

For the first down payment of 1 billion goldmark in August 1921, the German government was able to get, with great difficulties, 600 million in gold. The remaining 400 million came from short-term loands from banks. The exchange rate with the dollar rose to 86.37 marks. The short-term loans needed constant refinancing and the exchange rate rose to to 115.50 in September. By the time of the next payment in November was the rate at 310 mark per dollar. In this period Germany also lost the industrially strong Upper Silesia.

The difficulties of getting the necessary means led the German government to announce, that it could not make the payments in 1922 and requested a reprieve. The attempts to resolve the issue failed and by the end of the year was the exchange rate 7650 marks per dollar. The debt grew from January, 1922 by 52 billion, in the next three months by 150 billion and in the final three months by over 1000 billion. The prices and wages followed the debasement of the mark. While initially was over a half of the debt held by the public, at the end of the year was most of it held by the Reichsbank. As a consequence, the banknotes in circulation rose from 115 to 316 billion, then to 1280 billion in December.

The Reichsbank was made nominally independent from the government, but that action didn't stop the inflation. The backing of banknotes was temporarily repealed. Germany requested to be freed from all payments for at least a few years, until the necessary reforms were made. A conference in Paris in January, 1923, failed to resolve the issues, where Germany was blocked by France. The [[Ruhr]] was occupied.

The occupation was considered a breach of the Treaty of Versailles. The German government stopped all payments to France and Belgium and announced passive resistance in the occupied areas. The French army went aggressively after income of any sort, with confiscations and downright theft. The inflation broken out in full. The exchange rate of the dollar rose in the first six months of 1923 to 74 750 mark. In August it was a million, in October a billion, in November it was over a trillion per dollar. The impact on life was unimaginable and the mark effectively stopped being a means of payment.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Reform of the mark==
The reform of the mark was considered since 1920. Many called for the return of the goldmark, others suggested backing by other means. By the year 1922 were in agricultural areas like Mecklenburg an Oldenburg prices and rents based on a pound of rye. Several districts issued bonds quoted in the price of rye. Other commodities were used, like coal or potash to back loans and bonds.

The escalating economic situation with plundering and revolts called for action. On the 27th September, 1923, the government declared a state of emergency and abdicated. A new government completed the reform plan: the new currency should be the '''[[Rentenmark]]''', based on gold. It was not declared [[legal tender]], no conversion ratio with the paper mark was set, nor was it actually backed by gold - there was not enough of it in Germany. The issuing bank, the "[[Deutsche Rentenbank]]" was independent from the outset. The new money was not based on the state, but on the economy itself. The agricultural sector and the industries each took on a half of the bank's capital in the form of debt - [[mortgage]]s in the value of 4% of all lands used for agriculture and forestry, and debt issued by the industries, crafts and trades, each in amount of 1600 million goldmark. The basic capital of 3200 million mark was the backing of the Rentenmark, and the bank could issue up to this amount of the new money (but the top limit was never reached, the maximum in circulation was 2.1 billion<ref name="Rentenbank_History">Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. [http://www.rentenbank.de/cms/dokumente/10011459_262579/8852134e/Historie.pdf "Die Geschichte der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank"] (pdf, in ''German''), referenced 2010-11-19.</ref>).

Anyone who would deliver at least 500 Rentenmark could redeem them for "Rentenbriefe" - bonds with a 5% interest rate, quoted in goldmark. The Rentenbank issued them in an amount equal to its capital. It could issue money (the Rentenmarks) only up to the amount of Rentenbriefe it held. In this way, the Rentenmark should be a bridge to a new golden mark.

The Rentenbank was founded on 15th October of 1923 and [[Hjalmar Schacht]] was put into a key government position to execute the reform plan. The stabilisation was done according to the exchange rate to the dollar on the Stock Exchange in Berlin, which was at the 20th November 4200 billion mark.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

===Notgeld===
Cities have produced metal money during the war and after it. With the ever-growing devaluation of the currency, the demand grew correspondingly.

The Reichsbank had to call upon private printing works for the production of banknotes, in 1923 were 30 paper factories and 133 printing works busy with their production. The number of printing presses (1723 running day and night in autumn 1923) could be still increased, but the capacities for the special paper for banknotes could not keep up with the demand. The Reichsbank therefore welcomed and in many cases supported the issue of ''Notgeld'' (emergency money) by municipalities, districts, provinces and private enterprises. It was estimated, that at the end of 1922 there were about 20 billion in circulation - as opposed to 1280 billion of official money. By the end of 1923 there were 400 to 500 billion of Notgeld in value of about 500 million goldmark, so about the same amount as the official banknotes. There was also "value-stable" money in the same amount. The Notgeld was not only used to assist the Reichsbank, but many produced it to great profit.

In November, 1923, the Reichsbank stopped accepting the Notgeld, and wanted to exchange its sizable reserves in their places of issue, causing a great outcry. It took until the end of October, 1924, to exchange most of the Notgeld and the economy could finally stabilize.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Effects of the inflation==
Germany had a large and wealthy middle class, and exactly this class was the hardest hit. Especially desperate was the situation of people living off rents. Many families of high repute and constituting a significant part of the higher officialdom lost all of their property and status. Some have chosen the ''Freitod'' ("free death"). The Reichsgericht (Imperial Court) decided, that a mark equaled a mark, and that old debts could be settled in worthless paper money. Many did so; the taxes were also paid in this way, leaving the state to live exclusively from the printing press.

The price of a mark differed strongly at the stock exchanges outside from the prices in Germany. This attracted many foreigners to buy and live in Germany for cheap, buying up everything from common goods to company shares and land. The Germans were not less inclined to speculation. From this period comes the term "Luftgeschäft" (lit. "air-business"), trading of nonexistent goods in a long chain, where the last buyer was the fool. By 1922 were most people still not aware of what was going on, and growing loans and prices seemed like great opportunities.

The rationing laws, that basically forced families to break them and use the black market, shook the foundations of trust in laws. The wages of officials were always raised too late, leading to corruption. A shocking number of packages were misappropriated at the railways and the post office. Many felt betrayed by the state.

In 1923 fell the currency apart. The [[Flight into real goods|flight into "real values"]] began, everyone sought to get rid of the money as fast as possible. By that time, it wasn't even worth robbing a money transport, as it was in 1919 or 1920. According to the German economist Adolf Weber, the inflation caused much worse damage than the destructive four years of war.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

The last reparation payment of £59m was made on Sunday, October 3, 2010.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315869/Germany-end-World-War-One-reparations-92-years-59m-final-payment.html Mail Online]</ref>

==Inflation in numbers==
[[File:Weimar Hyperinflation Chart.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Graphical representation on a logarithmic scale of Weimar hyperinflation]]
{| class="prettytable" style="text-align:right"
! Date<ref name="Gaettens_German" />
! Exchange rate of the dollar in [[mark]]s
! Banknotes in circulation, millions
! Floating debt in treasuries, total, billions of marks
|-
| January 1919
| 7.95
| 23 647
| 58.6
|-
| April 1919
| 11.26
| 26 628
| 67.2
|-
| July 1919
| 13.75
| 29 268
| 76.1
|-
| October 1919
| 23.83
| 30 928
| 83.3
|-
| January 1920
| 49.80
| 37 443
| 88.3
|-
| April 1920
| 67
| 47 939
| 95.1
|-
| July 1920
| 37.90
| 55 768
| 112.7
|-
| October 1920
| 61.62
| 63 596
| 140.6
|-
| January 1921
| 74.50
| 66 620
| 155.5
|-
| April 1921
| 62.62
| 70 839
| 172.7
|-
| July 1921
| 75
| 77 390
| 190.8
|-
| October 1921
| 124.50
| 91 527
| 202.9
|-
| January 1922
| 186.75
| 115 375
| 255.9
|-
| April 1922
| 298
| 140 420
| 281.1
|-
| July 1922
| 402
| 189 794
| 308.0
|-
| October 1922
| 1815
| 469 456
| 331.5
|-
| January 1923
| 7260
| 1 984 496
| 2081.8
|-
| February 1923
| 41 500
| 3 512 787
| 3588.0
|-
| March 1923
| 22 800
| 5 517 919
| 6601.3
|-
| April 1923
| 21 100
| 6 545 984
| 8442.3
|-
| May 1923
| 31 700
| 8 563 749
| 10 275.0
|-
| June 1923
| 74 750
| 17 291 061
| 22 019.8
|-
| July 1923
| 160 000
| 43 594 737
| 57 848.9
|-
| August 1923
| 1 100 000
| 663 200 050
| 1 196 294.7
|-
| September 1923
| 9 700 000
| 28 228 815 494
| 46 716 616.4
|-
| October 1923
| 242 000 000
| 2 496 822 909 039
| 6 907 511 102.8
|-
| November 1923
| 130 000 000 000
| 400 267 640 301 854
| 191 580 465 422.1
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://mises.org/books/hyperinflation.pdf Exchange, Prices, and Production in Hyper-Inflation: Germany, 1920-1923] (pdf) by E. W. Kemmerer
* [http://mises.org/MMMP/MMMP7.ASP The Great German Inflation] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap9a.asp Omnipotent Government: Weimar and its Collapse] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/books/economicsofinflation.pdf 'The Economics of Inflation'] (pdf) by Costantino Bresciani-Turroni, 1931
* [http://www.econ.puc-rio.br/pdf/TD159.pdf 'The Rentenmark Miracle'] (pdf), Gustavo H.B. Franco, May 1987
* [http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE7_1_1.pdf Hyperinflation and Hyperreality: Thomas Mann in Light of Austrian Economics], by Paul A. Cantor, 1994
* [http://mises.org/daily/3661 My Summer Reading: Hyper-Inflation in Weimar Germany] by Ralph Fucetola, September 2009
* [[Wikipedia:Inflation in the Weimar Republic|Inflation in the Weimar Republic]] on Wikipedia
[[Category:Inflations|Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:History of Germany]]

Inflation in the Weimar Republic

2011-08-08T20:57:06Z

An.fear.glas: /* After the War */ Added a supporting link for the Armistice date. I am sure better examples exist, but this suffices for now.

[[File:Weimar Republic notes used as wallpaper, 1923.jpg|thumb|right|Weimar Republic notes being used as wallpaper, 1923]]
The '''inflation in the [[Weimar Republic]]''' was a period of [[hyperinflation]] in [[Germany]] between 1921 and 1923. It was one of the most extreme hyperinflations in the world's history.

==Before the end of the War==
The [[German Empire]] in 1914 was economically the most powerful country in Europe. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], the total money supply was at around 6 billion Marks: composed of ''Reichsbanknoten'' (banknotes from the [[Reichsbank]]), ''Reichskassenscheine'' (imperial treasury notes), private banknotes, gold coins and token coins. The duty to redeem the ''Reichsbanknoten'' for gold by the Reichsbank was repealed. One third of the nominal value of banknotes still had to be backed by gold, current German money, or the ''Reichskassenscheine''. In addition to these, however, a new type of banknote was also allowed as backing: the ''Darlehenskassenscheine'', which were issued by newly formed ''Darlehenskassen'', that is, loan institutes run by the Reichsbank. The money could be issued up to the value of the granted loans, where [[collateral]] could be goods or [[bond]]s. These banknotes were not [[legal tender]], but were fully accepted by public cashier's offices and thus their acceptance was assured. This one law removed all limits on the creation of new money.

The public cashier's offices had to deliver all incoming gold coins to the Reichsbank. A massive ad campaign persuaded the population to give their gold coins to the Empire. The people eagerly responded, and about 1 billion in gold was exchanged for Reichsbanknoten.

With the outbreak of the war, Germany's exports shrank dramatically, while imports fell only somewhat, causing significant outflows of gold. This, combined with the cost of the military, made an expansion of the money supply necessary—at the end of 1914 it was at 7.2 billion. The large occupied territories (like [[Belgium]], [[Russia]], [[Poland]], and [[Romania]]) needed money in local currencies; their money was backed by the Reichsbank and its notes.

As the inflation continued, the country instituted [[price controls]] to attempt to limit the rising prices. First established in 1914 for everyday items, the number of regulated goods grew throughout the war.<ref name="Gaettens_German">Richard Gaettens. ''Geschichte der Inflationen Von Altertum bis zum Gegenwart'' (German: History of Inflations from Old Ages to the Present), ''Die grosse Deutsche Inflation von 1914 bis 1923'' (The Great German Inflation from 1914 to 1923) p. 237-278. ISBN: ISBN 3-87045-211-0. Referenced 2010-11-21.</ref>

The [[First World War]] cost Germany in total 160 billion Mark. In 1914–1918 only 13.1 percent of the costs were financed out of recurring revenues. (In [[World War Two]], September 1939 to September 1944 it was about 50% percent of the costs.) Of the costs, 24.8% were paid as "floating debt" (i.e., by printing money), while the remaining 62.1% were state bonds signed by German citizens. In comparison, [[Great Britain]] paid 28% out of its recurring tax revenues. The reason for this financing was a lack of tax base: the ''Reich'' did not have a unified financial administration, and the German states were still very independent.<ref name="Aly">Götz Aly. "Hitlers Volksstaat" (in English published as "Hitler's Beneficiaries: How the Nazis Bought the German People"), p.33. ISBN 978-3-596-15863-8. Referenced 2011-03-19.</ref>

==After the War==
The armistice was signed on the 11 November 1918 [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/world-war-i-ends], to be followed by a peace treaty. But its terms were born of the fear, that the war may not be over.

The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed on on 28th June of 1919. [[Germany]] accepted it under heaviest pressure, shortly after the [[Blockade of Germany|blockade]] was removed, allowing much needed resources and food supplies to be imported. Arguably, the reparations were the most important cause of the destruction of the German [[mark]]. As a part of the peace conditions, that Germany with its allies accepted their role as attackers and responsibility for all damages and losses caused. All damages should be repaid, including pensions for war victims and the costs for the upkeep of the occupation army. All heavy weaponry should be handed over, with the entire war fleet and many locomotives and railroad cars. A large part of the business fleet had to be delivered and coal in millions of tons was to be supplied to several countries for up to ten years.

The German government was in financial trouble even before the Treaty - and the revolutions, uprisings and strikes did little to help. Therefore, several new taxes and tariffs were introduced. The tariffs should be paid in gold and increased dramatically. The expenses were still not covered. The government's debt rose from 38.6 billion in January, 1919, to 176.6 billion in May, 1921, the banknotes in circulation rose in the same period from 23.647 to 71.863 billion. If the public did not take over a large part of the debt, the money supply could have been even higher. The exchange rate to the [[U.S. dollar|dollar]] rose from 7.95 to 65.18 in this time.

Germany had to start paying reparations immediately, their final value was assessed in January 1921. With gradually increasing payments, it should pay 226 billion goldmark over a period of 42 years. In addition, every year should Germany pay 12% of its exports, as security should serve all tariffs and all import and export taxes. The German side agreed to the payments, providing the already paid sums were subtracted from the total; the 12% of all exports were declared to be impossible to accept.

[[Lloyd George]], Britain's Prime Minister strongly refused these suggestions. Several cities in Rhine area were occupied and the customs in occupied areas were confiscated. A new payment plan was formed in April 1921 and, coupled with an [[London Ultimatum|ultimatum]] of occupying the whole Ruhr region, it was accepted by the German government. The new plan had lowered the total reparations to 136 billion goldmark. 2 billion goldmark should be paid each year, and a higher part of the exports (26%).

For the first down payment of 1 billion goldmark in August 1921, the German government was able to get, with great difficulties, 600 million in gold. The remaining 400 million came from short-term loands from banks. The exchange rate with the dollar rose to 86.37 marks. The short-term loans needed constant refinancing and the exchange rate rose to to 115.50 in September. By the time of the next payment in November was the rate at 310 mark per dollar. In this period Germany also lost the industrially strong Upper Silesia.

The difficulties of getting the necessary means led the German government to announce, that it could not make the payments in 1922 and requested a reprieve. The attempts to resolve the issue failed and by the end of the year was the exchange rate 7650 marks per dollar. The debt grew from January, 1922 by 52 billion, in the next three months by 150 billion and in the final three months by over 1000 billion. The prices and wages followed the debasement of the mark. While initially was over a half of the debt held by the public, at the end of the year was most of it held by the Reichsbank. As a consequence, the banknotes in circulation rose from 115 to 316 billion, then to 1280 billion in December.

The Reichsbank was made nominally independent from the government, but that action didn't stop the inflation. The backing of banknotes was temporarily repealed. Germany requested to be freed from all payments for at least a few years, until the necessary reforms were made. A conference in Paris in January, 1923, failed to resolve the issues, where Germany was blocked by France. The [[Ruhr]] was occupied.

The occupation was considered a breach of the Treaty of Versailles. The German government stopped all payments to France and Belgium and announced passive resistance in the occupied areas. The French army went aggressively after income of any sort, with confiscations and downright theft. The inflation broken out in full. The exchange rate of the dollar rose in the first six months of 1923 to 74 750 mark. In August it was a million, in October a billion, in November it was over a trillion per dollar. The impact on life was unimaginable and the mark effectively stopped being a means of payment.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Reform of the mark==
The reform of the mark was considered since 1920. Many called for the return of the goldmark, others suggested backing by other means. By the year 1922 were in agricultural areas like Mecklenburg an Oldenburg prices and rents based on a pound of rye. Several districts issued bonds quoted in the price of rye. Other commodities were used, like coal or potash to back loans and bonds.

The escalating economic situation with plundering and revolts called for action. On the 27th September, 1923, the government declared a state of emergency and abdicated. A new government completed the reform plan: the new currency should be the '''[[Rentenmark]]''', based on gold. It was not declared [[legal tender]], no conversion ratio with the paper mark was set, nor was it actually backed by gold - there was not enough of it in Germany. The issuing bank, the "[[Deutsche Rentenbank]]" was independent from the outset. The new money was not based on the state, but on the economy itself. The agricultural sector and the industries each took on a half of the bank's capital in the form of debt - [[mortgage]]s in the value of 4% of all lands used for agriculture and forestry, and debt issued by the industries, crafts and trades, each in amount of 1600 million goldmark. The basic capital of 3200 million mark was the backing of the Rentenmark, and the bank could issue up to this amount of the new money (but the top limit was never reached, the maximum in circulation was 2.1 billion<ref name="Rentenbank_History">Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. [http://www.rentenbank.de/cms/dokumente/10011459_262579/8852134e/Historie.pdf "Die Geschichte der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank"] (pdf, in ''German''), referenced 2010-11-19.</ref>).

Anyone who would deliver at least 500 Rentenmark could redeem them for "Rentenbriefe" - bonds with a 5% interest rate, quoted in goldmark. The Rentenbank issued them in an amount equal to its capital. It could issue money (the Rentenmarks) only up to the amount of Rentenbriefe it held. In this way, the Rentenmark should be a bridge to a new golden mark.

The Rentenbank was founded on 15th October of 1923 and [[Hjalmar Schacht]] was put into a key government position to execute the reform plan. The stabilisation was done according to the exchange rate to the dollar on the Stock Exchange in Berlin, which was at the 20th November 4200 billion mark.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

===Notgeld===
Cities have produced metal money during the war and after it. With the ever-growing devaluation of the currency, the demand grew correspondingly.

The Reichsbank had to call upon private printing works for the production of banknotes, in 1923 were 30 paper factories and 133 printing works busy with their production. The number of printing presses (1723 running day and night in autumn 1923) could be still increased, but the capacities for the special paper for banknotes could not keep up with the demand. The Reichsbank therefore welcomed and in many cases supported the issue of ''Notgeld'' (emergency money) by municipalities, districts, provinces and private enterprises. It was estimated, that at the end of 1922 there were about 20 billion in circulation - as opposed to 1280 billion of official money. By the end of 1923 there were 400 to 500 billion of Notgeld in value of about 500 million goldmark, so about the same amount as the official banknotes. There was also "value-stable" money in the same amount. The Notgeld was not only used to assist the Reichsbank, but many produced it to great profit.

In November, 1923, the Reichsbank stopped accepting the Notgeld, and wanted to exchange its sizable reserves in their places of issue, causing a great outcry. It took until the end of October, 1924, to exchange most of the Notgeld and the economy could finally stabilize.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Effects of the inflation==
Germany had a large and wealthy middle class, and exactly this class was the hardest hit. Especially desperate was the situation of people living off rents. Many families of high repute and constituting a significant part of the higher officialdom lost all of their property and status. Some have chosen the ''Freitod'' ("free death"). The Reichsgericht (Imperial Court) decided, that a mark equaled a mark, and that old debts could be settled in worthless paper money. Many did so; the taxes were also paid in this way, leaving the state to live exclusively from the printing press.

The price of a mark differed strongly at the stock exchanges outside from the prices in Germany. This attracted many foreigners to buy and live in Germany for cheap, buying up everything from common goods to company shares and land. The Germans were not less inclined to speculation. From this period comes the term "Luftgeschäft" (lit. "air-business"), trading of nonexistent goods in a long chain, where the last buyer was the fool. By 1922 were most people still not aware of what was going on, and growing loans and prices seemed like great opportunities.

The rationing laws, that basically forced families to break them and use the black market, shook the foundations of trust in laws. The wages of officials were always raised too late, leading to corruption. A shocking number of packages were misappropriated at the railways and the post office. Many felt betrayed by the state.

In 1923 fell the currency apart. The [[Flight into real goods|flight into "real values"]] began, everyone sought to get rid of the money as fast as possible. By that time, it wasn't even worth robbing a money transport, as it was in 1919 or 1920. According to the German economist Adolf Weber, the inflation caused much worse damage than the destructive four years of war.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

The last reparation payment of £59m was made on Sunday, October 3, 2010.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315869/Germany-end-World-War-One-reparations-92-years-59m-final-payment.html Mail Online]</ref>

==Inflation in numbers==
[[File:Weimar Hyperinflation Chart.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Graphical representation on a logarithmic scale of Weimar hyperinflation]]
{| class="prettytable" style="text-align:right"
! Date<ref name="Gaettens_German" />
! Exchange rate of the dollar in [[mark]]s
! Banknotes in circulation, millions
! Floating debt in treasuries, total, billions of marks
|-
| January 1919
| 7.95
| 23 647
| 58.6
|-
| April 1919
| 11.26
| 26 628
| 67.2
|-
| July 1919
| 13.75
| 29 268
| 76.1
|-
| October 1919
| 23.83
| 30 928
| 83.3
|-
| January 1920
| 49.80
| 37 443
| 88.3
|-
| April 1920
| 67
| 47 939
| 95.1
|-
| July 1920
| 37.90
| 55 768
| 112.7
|-
| October 1920
| 61.62
| 63 596
| 140.6
|-
| January 1921
| 74.50
| 66 620
| 155.5
|-
| April 1921
| 62.62
| 70 839
| 172.7
|-
| July 1921
| 75
| 77 390
| 190.8
|-
| October 1921
| 124.50
| 91 527
| 202.9
|-
| January 1922
| 186.75
| 115 375
| 255.9
|-
| April 1922
| 298
| 140 420
| 281.1
|-
| July 1922
| 402
| 189 794
| 308.0
|-
| October 1922
| 1815
| 469 456
| 331.5
|-
| January 1923
| 7260
| 1 984 496
| 2081.8
|-
| February 1923
| 41 500
| 3 512 787
| 3588.0
|-
| March 1923
| 22 800
| 5 517 919
| 6601.3
|-
| April 1923
| 21 100
| 6 545 984
| 8442.3
|-
| May 1923
| 31 700
| 8 563 749
| 10 275.0
|-
| June 1923
| 74 750
| 17 291 061
| 22 019.8
|-
| July 1923
| 160 000
| 43 594 737
| 57 848.9
|-
| August 1923
| 1 100 000
| 663 200 050
| 1 196 294.7
|-
| September 1923
| 9 700 000
| 28 228 815 494
| 46 716 616.4
|-
| October 1923
| 242 000 000
| 2 496 822 909 039
| 6 907 511 102.8
|-
| November 1923
| 130 000 000 000
| 400 267 640 301 854
| 191 580 465 422.1
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://mises.org/books/hyperinflation.pdf Exchange, Prices, and Production in Hyper-Inflation: Germany, 1920-1923] (pdf) by E. W. Kemmerer
* [http://mises.org/MMMP/MMMP7.ASP The Great German Inflation] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap9a.asp Omnipotent Government: Weimar and its Collapse] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/books/economicsofinflation.pdf 'The Economics of Inflation'] (pdf) by Costantino Bresciani-Turroni, 1931
* [http://www.econ.puc-rio.br/pdf/TD159.pdf 'The Rentenmark Miracle'] (pdf), Gustavo H.B. Franco, May 1987
* [http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE7_1_1.pdf Hyperinflation and Hyperreality: Thomas Mann in Light of Austrian Economics], by Paul A. Cantor, 1994
* [http://mises.org/daily/3661 My Summer Reading: Hyper-Inflation in Weimar Germany] by Ralph Fucetola, September 2009
* [[Wikipedia:Inflation in the Weimar Republic|Inflation in the Weimar Republic]] on Wikipedia
[[Category:Inflations|Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:History of Germany]]

User talk:Forgottenman

2011-08-08T20:53:42Z

An.fear.glas: /* Your welcoming of a new account user. */ new section

{{User:Forgottenbot/archive
|algo = old(10d)
|archive = User talk:Forgottenman/Archive/%(year)d/%(monthname)s
|minthreadstoarchive = 1
}}
<div style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;">'''This is my talk page'''. Click the "New section" tab ("+") above to start a new topic, or simply [http://wiki.mises.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Forgottenman&action=edit&section=new click here]. Sign your name with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> when you're finished, and click "Save page." Thanks!</div>

== Extensions and interwiki links ==

A few questions:
# What Wikimedia extensions are installed here?
# What types of interwiki links are available for external wiki-linking? [[User:Mcornelius|Mcornelius]] 03:59, 12 November 2010 (CST)
:The extensions we have right now can be seen at [[Special:Version]]: we have categorytree, charinsert, parserfunctions, and cite. If we need more, however, we can ask our developers to install them.
:As far as interwiki links go, it looks like we can use the full names of Wikimedia wikis, but not shortcuts. So, [[wikipedia:Ludwig von Mises]] or [[wiktionary:praxeology]]. For Wikisource, we have to specify the language: [[wikisource:en:The Law]]. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 06:49, 12 November 2010 (CST)

==Rights==
Seems like your rights issue is solved --[[User:Jatucker|Jatucker]] 12:16, 12 November 2010 (CST)
:What do you mean? --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 12:24, 12 November 2010 (CST)
::I thought your permissions were somehow limited but I see that they are not --[[User:Jatucker|Jatucker]] 16:09, 12 November 2010 (CST)
:::No, you gave me "bureaucrat" status, which is pretty much the highest available without being a developer. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 18:57, 12 November 2010 (CST)

== Missing Templates ==

Impressive work on all the background mechanisms, Forgottenman! May I request a few more templates for citing resources, that seem to be necessary for the many articles and parts imported from Wikipedia (e.g. [[Austrian School|here]])? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 08:25, 16 November 2010 (CST)
:I'll have a look; they would be useful. Hopefully though their existence doesn't encourage more copy / pastes from Wikipedia... we have the opportunity to create articles that have much more detail and a less restrictive license, but if we start with WP text, our article is a derivative work of WP forever. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 08:42, 16 November 2010 (CST)
::Well, we can always start from scratch if needed. :)
::Oh, and: big thanks for help with the BookSources! It's a small detail, but very useful when needed! [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 14:41, 16 November 2010 (CST)
:::I'm thinking that starting from scratch may be a good idea. I'm not convinced that converting everything into metadata is really that useful. I'll start by adapting Wikiqoute's model of cite journal and we can go from there. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 14:54, 16 November 2010 (CST)

[http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Full_reserve_banking#cite_note-5 Full reserve banking] has also some template error, as in [[Criticism of fractional reserve banking|this]]; and a video template is required [[Peter Schiff|here]]. That is hopefully all!

On a different topic - do you think it would make sense to start organizing projects in this wiki, or is that premature? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 06:15, 17 November 2010 (CST)
:I'll try to take a look at those templates later today. Are you talking about Wikiprojects? Setting them up is probably best done by someone interested in the subject and not for its own sake – so I wouldn't suggest creating a wide variety of projects, but if there's a particular subject or type of article that interests you, go for it. Active projects can be great ways for people to get involved; abandoned projects make the place look like a big empty building. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 09:40, 17 November 2010 (CST)
::I've created the [[MisesWiki:WikiProject Economic History]], although the name seems a little unwieldy. Before I start creating more pages, do you think the name and (category) is appropriate, or could we shorten WikiProject to Project? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 05:51, 20 November 2010 (CST)
:::Sounds fine to me. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 09:32, 22 November 2010 (CST)

Would it be possible to get some CSS added to [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] to fix the formatting on [[Template:Header]]? I would do it myself but I don't have the required permissions. [[User:Anarchei|Anarchei]] 01:43, 29 November 2010 (CST)

==Innovation and original work.==
I've already logged in and made a very small edit to the mises wiki: pollution. I'm trained in sustainable development and pollution related problems and solutions. All I've done is add the word '''soil''' pollution to the list. Its often overlooked but it is useful because it illustrates the property rights, disclosure aspect, knowledge issues and the issue of people going to the hazard.

My question is not about pollution, its about charity and new tools like [http://www.thepoint.com/ The Point], hopefully you know of that because of Bob Murphy's challenge to Krugman.
Both need to be covered but in many cases the ideas of using charitable solutions are very new, particularly using the pledge based strategy in the Point, would they be considered original work?
Charity is critical because we often argue that charity can pick up some key externalities or public goods; particularly welfare. However charities are very restricted, often because they compete with government as a solution, [ Marx saw them as the major threat to socialism and Lenin wiped out church based charities in the first months ]. They have cash flow problems often because they are "not for profit" and this restricts their investment and banking options and because of donor fatigue and recipient privacy constraints. There's much stuff on this in the writings but its blurred a bit by Ayn Rand's opposition to religion and charity. [Yes I know she's not an Austrian school but most don't know that.] How do we deal with the newest solutions.
I've done some work in this field: [http://appliedimpossibilies.blogspot.com/2010/07/saving-world-by-burying-greens.html Saving the world by burying greens.]
The catch is that in a wiki sense this is classic ''"original work"'' but there are so few of us this could become a largish problem. What's plan A when your the only Austrian school player writing in a given field?
[[User:Wesleybruce|Wesleybruce]] 00:07, 17 November 2010 (CST)

:There are writings around on pretty much any topic, but sometimes one needs to pick and choose a little. A Stub for [[Charity]] was created with a few links that could be of use - perhaps that could help out? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 05:39, 17 November 2010 (CST)
:Regarding "original work," I wouldn't worry about it too much. I doubt that we are going to be as hardheaded about that as Wikipedia is in articles on "new" subjects. The preferred approach might be to build articles based on current work, with references, and then branch off based on that. Thus, Hayek said xyz about charity (he didn't think it had much hope of solving the problem), but his paradigm didn't include new charity options. Or Walter Block and Murry Rothbard say xyz about pollution, but other areas that haven't been looked into are ___.
:You might also get in touch with Stephan Kinsella; he runs Libertarian Papers and if you put something together he might be inclined to have it reviewed and published, especially in a new area like this. That way we'd end up with a published, reliable article to cite. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 07:10, 17 November 2010 (CST)

==Mises Bust for Meritorious Editing==
{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:MisesBust.jpg|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''Mises Bust for Meritorious Editing'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | For his numerous and highly clueful edits in the early days of the Mises Wiki, I hereby present this Mises Bust to Forgottenman. [[User:DickClarkMises|DickClarkMises]] 13:18, 19 November 2010 (CST)
|}
:That put a smile on my face. Just awesome; thanks. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 13:20, 19 November 2010 (CST)

== The 'Anniversaries' project ==

Hey, Forgot, a question: With all the unfinished anniversary pages, might you be able to create a little "Project Page" (like the "Economic History" project) that gives us a few guidelines about what to put where? I was wondering because the anniversary dates show up as top-ranked in the [[Special:WantedPages|Most wanted pages]] list and it might be helpful for us folks to know how to add things. Thanks in advance! -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 14:32, 27 November 2010 (CST)
:I've added instructions to [[MisesWiki:Anniversaries]]. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 16:04, 27 November 2010 (CST)
::Yes, noticed almost right away. Thanks! -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 18:16, 27 November 2010 (CST) Wondering now about:

==The concept of "Projects"==
Our only official "project" to date is the [[MisesWiki:WikiProject Economic History|Economic history project]]. Do these four pages qualify as "projects" worthy of the category "WikiProjects" ?

:* [[MisesWiki:Meetups|Meetups]]
:* [[MisesWiki:Anniversaries|Anniversaries]]
:* [[MisesWiki:Current events|Current events]]
:* [[MisesWiki:Community portal|Community portal]]

They all have "project page" as their first tab, yet I don't see any code inside the Economic History project page that makes it unique to be a special project. Seems these four may also be special cases needing focus, building, expansion, explanations, etc. Am not pushing hard for these necessarily. I am just looking to see if these deserve the designation. Thanks for your thoughts as time permits. Maybe we can discuss this in our soon-to-be-developed forum! :) If this is too much for your talk page, I could move to the Google mailing list, if you like. -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 18:16, 27 November 2010 (CST)
:On Wikipedia at least the Wikiprojects are primarily for content creation or specific maintenance tasks. My preference would be to continue in that tradition; the other pages you mention seem different from that. "Anniversaries" would be closest, I think, to being an actual Wikiproject, but the thing is that it really isn't a project that will need a lot of maintenance once it is set up (though that will take at least several months). I'd say put it on the Community portal to draw attention to it, but I wouldn't call it a wikiproject. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 19:55, 27 November 2010 (CST)
::'k. -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 21:03, 27 November 2010 (CST)

== Placement of stub tags ==

The stubs category page had suggested including the tag at either the beginning or the end of the article. As I see you moving them to the end of various pages, shall we change the instruction as well? Thanks for all your good works. -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 11:09, 29 November 2010 (CST)
:Thanks, I didn't realize it said that. If anyone disagrees with my edit comment in my edit to [[:Category:Article stubs|that page]], I'm happy to discuss it. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 11:19, 29 November 2010 (CST)

== idioms ==

Hello
Can i write in spanish my contributions, changes and wikis?

thanks. {{unsigned|09:15, 3 January 2011|Arenas}}
:Hola Arenas: Es posible que vaya a ser un Mises Wiki en español en el futuro, si hay interés. Pero en este momento hay solamente un Mises Wiki en inglés. Si quieres contribuir, sugiero que agregues contribuciones en español en las páginas de "Talk," y yo puedo traducirlas y añadir el texto al artículo. Por ejémplo, si quieres crear un artículo llamado [[Vicente Fox]], añadir tu contribución en [[Talk:Vicente Fox]] y avísame. Dime si tienes otras preguntas; ayudarte es un placer.
:Hi Arenas: It's possible that in the future there will be a Mises Wiki in Spanish, if there's enough interest. But for now there is only a Mises Wiki in English. If you would like to contribute, I suggest that you add Spanish text to Talk pages, and I can translate them and add the text to the article. For example, if you want to create an article called [[Vicente Fox]], add your text to [[Talk:Vicente Fox]] and let me know. If you have other questions let me know; I'm glad to help. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 09:40, 3 January 2011 (CST)

== Don't remove ==

See http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/MisesWiki:Commons#Most_wanted_Stub. --[[User:Reserved|Reserved]] 12:26, 6 January 2011 (CST)
:Ah, if that's what you're referring to then let's create a page and link to it. Putting a red link on a page meant to guide new folks is counterintuitive. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 12:35, 6 January 2011 (CST)
:: Is only an open idea. When you think, it's practicable, then create it, please. --[[User:Reserved|Reserved]] 12:38, 6 January 2011 (CST)
:::I rather doubt it's practicable, but others think so, so I've put it at [[MisesWiki:Most wanted]]. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 12:55, 6 January 2011 (CST)
:::: I don't know, too. But a test is no risk. --[[User:Reserved|Reserved]] 13:21, 6 January 2011 (CST)

== Template ==

I see from above you are the goto guy for requesting templates :) Might I ask for the <nowiki>'''{{reflist|2}}'''</nowiki> one to be activated? It will allow for a far tidier article layout. Thanks [[User:Mark|Mark]] 14:00, 7 January 2011 (CST)
:I just worked on it a bit but it doesn't appear to be working yet; I'll need to do more research to figure it out. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 14:20, 7 January 2011 (CST)
::Thank you very much :) [[User:Mark|Mark]] 14:25, 7 January 2011 (CST)
Thank you for doing the reflist|2 template, I have another request, would it be possible to get the <nowiki>{{refbegin|2}} and {{refend))</nowiki> done also? —''unsigned comment by'' [[User:Mark|Mark]] ([[User talk:Mark|talk]]) {{#if:Mark|11:42, 11 January 2011}}.
:I've set up the framework, but I'm not familiar with these templates and so I don't know if they are working right now or not. I'll research them later and see what I can find, and write some documentation as well. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 11:08, 11 January 2011 (CST)
::Thanks. I have tried it out here [[Fighting Communist Organizations]] if you look t othe article`s end you will see that any section below the templates (In this case further reading) appears to get squished up? [[User:Mark|Mark]] 11:19, 11 January 2011 (CST)
::Thank you for setting up the template, there is one further issue with it however, '''</dl>''' is showing at the end of the references section? Any idea as to why? [[User:Mark|Mark]] 10:44, 28 January 2011 (CST)
:::Odd. Somehow on Wikipedia that dangling <code><nowiki></dl></nowiki></code> is hidden. Those five characters are only needed if {{tl|refbegin}} uses the "indent" parameter, so I've made them hide unless {{tl|refend}} also uses the indent parameter. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 11:14, 28 January 2011 (CST)
::::Excellent, thank you. [[User:Mark|Mark]] 13:41, 28 January 2011 (CST)

== About ==

Well edit, but you don't need to make a bow to one person. Tucker said it, I copied it.

The hope that this wiki can eventually come to replace major sections of mises org, is also from him. --[[User:Reserved|Reserved]] 11:15, 11 January 2011 (CST)
:You are the one who introduced the language that the Mises Institute "rules" this wiki; my edit provided support for that claim. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 11:33, 11 January 2011 (CST)
:: My language is influenced by my troublesomeness to think in English as German. Mr. Tucker may edit this article himself to advance the site (without to quote himself). We are no footmen. --[[User:Reserved|Reserved]] 11:50, 11 January 2011 (CST)

== More on sub-categories ==

I have created a new sub-category of "History of the Soviet Union". When you have a moment, please take a look to see if it is set up properly. You can find it by way of [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]]. Thx. :) -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 19:54, 28 January 2011 (CST)

== Renaming a page via 'Move' ==

When offline I recalled the "move" concept. Found the short explanation in the [[Help:Wiki FAQ#Fixing wiki mistakes|'Help' FAQ]]. Have never 'moved' a page before, that I can recall. Would that have worked recently on the original misnaming of the ''History of the Soviet Union'' category as well? I am guessing all live links to the moving page are automatically changed as well, yes? TIA. -- [[User:RayBirks|RayBirks]] 13:54, 30 January 2011 (CST)
:Unfortunately no, categories can't be "moved" like articles can. To rename a category, we have to create a category with the new name, manually move all pages in the old category to the new category, and delete the old category. Right now we don't have many categories with a lot of articles in them, so this is an easy process. In the future, we can use a bot to make the change easier to complete. Regarding [[:Category:History of the Soviet Union]], you did it correctly: put {{tl|delete}} on the category with the wrong name, so that an admin would know to delete it. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 14:22, 30 January 2011 (CST)

== Mike Shedlock vanity? ==

[[Mike Shedlock]] Is an article about a person sourced entirely to that persons blog suitable for this wiki? It seems to be just a vanity piece to me. [[User:Mark|Mark]] 10:25, 2 February 2011 (CST)
:I think it's okay: the guy seems to be a fairly established writer (even writing occasionally for mises.org). So while yes it would be nice to get better sources, I'm not uncomfortable with letting it stay until then. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 06:45, 3 February 2011 (CST)
:Added some more links to make it a little more balanced (Murphy/Faber criticism of Mish). Some are Mises links, which look kind of weird under ''external'' links. Is there a special convention for Mises links? [[User:Daniel Hewitt|Daniel Hewitt]] 08:34, 3 February 2011 (CST)
::Our "convention" is to just call that section "Links" rather than "External links," and put mises.org links there as well. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 08:43, 3 February 2011 (CST)
:I think his blog is suitable for citing his political opinions, and I'm sure there will be other sources when the article grows. I'll keep this in mind if I ever extend the article. And, yes, he is pretty established; he has 40k+ readers according to Feedburner, has appeared on shows like Yahoo's Tech Ticker and his blog is listed as #2 at EconDirectory's [http://www.econdirectory.com list] of popular economics blogs/websites. BTW: mises.org links ARE external links (but I'll use the new convention from now) [[User:Ddnixx|Ddnixx]] 09:57, 3 February 2011 (CST)

== Blocking users and IPs ==

Hallo there, I blocked the accounts of two spammers and noticed this option among those available - "Automatically block the last IP address used by this user, and any subsequent IP addresses they try to edit from". Do you think it is reasonable to use it, given that IP addresses of users tend to change? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 02:55, 8 February 2011 (CST)
:Yes, using that option is generally a good idea. The main benefit is that it prevents a user from logging out and being able to edit anonymously. It's not foolproof for dynamic IPs, but it helps. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 07:50, 8 February 2011 (CST)
::I worry, that with a dynamic IP could the ban hit somebody else. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 08:29, 8 February 2011 (CST)
:::That is possible. I think it's highly unlikely since we don't have very many users right now, but it is a valid concern. Eventually we'll want to install more sophisticated anti-vandalism tools that will make it possible to check user IP addresses, which will help us be able to tell if a vandal is using a dynamic IP or not, or if a block is hitting people it wasn't intended to hit. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 09:58, 8 February 2011 (CST)

The spammers certainly seem to proliferate... is there any possibility to make it for them more difficult, say, introduce a (better) Captcha during registration? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 02:40, 19 March 2011 (CDT)
:I don't think a more difficult captcha will do much, but there are ways to block open proxies. I'll research this soon and send an email out to the list. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 08:54, 21 March 2011 (CDT)
::Well, I guess it must be true - if a website isn't noticed by spammers it's as if it wouldn't exist. :) [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 04:54, 24 March 2011 (CDT)

Speaking of spammers, is there anyway to delete a page one put up (I just deleted the content but that did not do the trick)? If I am lacking privileges thats understandable of course. --[[User:Huckelberry|Huckelberry]] 10:13, 31 March 2011 (MSD)
:Best thing to do is put {{tl|delete}} on it; this way administrators can easily find such articles and delete them. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 16:04, 31 March 2011 (MSD)

New thought: would it be possible and reasonable to, say, prevent users from creating a new page unless they for example add some content to their user page? Knowing more about people is nice, but that's secondary to making sure they are not spammers. Since the primary attack vector is registering a brand new user and creating a new page, this measure ''might'' derail them (at least for a while, dammit). On the other hand, I definitely don't want to discourage anyone from contributing to the wiki. What do you think? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 14:49, 24 April 2011 (MSD)
:Off the top of my head I don't think this is possible. It is possible to prevent users from creating a page if they have never edited a page, but I'm not sure that that is a good idea, because it might encourage spammers to edit existing pages (changes to which might be harder to find). There are other options as well that I haven't had the time to explore yet. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 22:49, 25 April 2011 (MSD)
::Ah well, it was worth a thought. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 13:21, 27 April 2011 (MSD)

FYI: a user has just spammed her own Talk page. At least they change it around, right? :| [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 15:00, 13 May 2011 (MSD)

Just noticed... there IS one thing, that all the spam pages have in common: all contain a direct link to Wikipedia's main English page at the end.

While it does feel cruel, how about blocking the creation of all pages with this specific link? (Obviously, allowing all other WP links.) Maybe it will work, at least for a while. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 18:29, 30 May 2011 (MSD)

:Good observation. I'm not sure if it will be possible to block the main page without blocking articles, but it's worth a look. I'm working on figuring out what method will be the most likely to succeed while requiring the least amount of work... hopefully we'll have something soon. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 01:30, 31 May 2011 (MSD)

::What's the story with the captcha account creation? Is it just not up to snuff? --[[User:John James|John James]] 10:41, 31 May 2011 (MSD)
:::It seems that there are some pretty good image-recognition algorithms out there. They don't work all the time with the captchas, but as long as they work some of the time, they are very usable by spammers. So it's more of a hurdle than an unavoidable barrier. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 16:35, 4 July 2011 (MSD)

Another thought on the side: surely we can delete users, that were inactive for some time and never edited anything (at least anything that would survive). Most of the spam accounts are just placeholders that are never used. How about deleting them after, say, three months? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 16:35, 4 July 2011 (MSD)

:I [http://groups.google.com/a/mises.com/group/wiki/browse_thread/thread/cd76f64202ce4c7d?hl=en# proposed this weeks ago] and even provided a relatively easy way to do it, but of course never got a response. {{nowrap|--[[User:John James|John James]] 02:12, 5 July 2011 (MSD)}}

Could it be that the issues plaguing the wiki have scared away all the spammers? :) [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 15:22, 21 July 2011 (MSD)

Perhaps :) Or maybe the anti-spam tools are encouraging them to pursue more productive lines of work (one can hope). --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 15:59, 21 July 2011 (MSD)

{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #fdffe7;"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Barnstar_of_Reversion2.png|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | For his ceaseless vigilance in removing spam, Forgottenman is awarded the Anti-Vandalism Barnstar! [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 11:46, 28 July 2011 (MSD)
|}

== Declaration of Independence ==

I followed the page doesn't exist link from the "This week in History" entry on the Declaration of Independence. Looks like that has been updated to reflect the existing page. Thanks. [[User:Draukadin|Draukadin]] 14:27, 25 March 2011 (CDT)
:''Responded at [[User talk:Draukadin]]''

== broken code on template ==

I noticed the code on [[Template:Wikipedia text]] is not written properly. If an article is entered in the proper syntax of the template as shown on the page, it returns a messed up line of links. I don't have time to figure out where the bug is now, but I figured I'd let you know since you were the last editor and you might have an easier time fixing it anyway. --[[User:John James|John James]] 03:31, 9 April 2011 (MSD)

== Template:Infobox ==

I was trying to get the image to work on the infobox template and couldn't figure it out. Related, I couldn't find the software name that wiki.mises runs. I was looking assuming I could find acceptable values for the attributes I was playing with.

Thx
[[User:Subsidiarity|Subsidiarity]] 02:10, 26 April 2011 (MSD)

In related news, the Infobox seems to be broken now in all countries. Is there some easy way to fix this, do we have to go back to the previous version, or is a mass edit needed? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 20:24, 5 May 2011 (MSD)
:Yes, I see... probably reverting for now would be best; it's possible that it's relying on a more complex version of CSS files. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 22:40, 5 May 2011 (MSD)
::Alright, it shall be an undo. I'll give it a try. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 12:47, 6 May 2011 (MSD)
:::Worked like a charm, at least for the countries - but now are two book pages broken ([[The Theory of Money and Credit]] and [[Principles of Economics]]), where the new template (via [[Template:Infobox book]]) shined. Maybe we can introduce the new version under a different name, to keep the new features? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 13:24, 6 May 2011 (MSD)

== Congratulations ==
'''''Hallo Forgottenman,'''''

'''''on occasion of this (semi-)anniversary I wanted to personally thank you for all the great work you have done on this wiki. From highly technical edits, through those many minor additions, that few want to make but that are so important in making the site a more professional (and functional!) place, up to dealing with users in an enviably even and mature way, you have shown yourself to be the true administrator of the Mises Wiki. Allow me to present a small badge of recognition and express a strong hope to cooperate with you on many more wiki pages.'''''

{{Userbox
|id=[[File:Mises Wiki logo small.png]]
|info=This user is an Administrator of the Mises Wiki.
}}{{Clear}}

'''''Have a great day, 
[[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 20:24, 5 May 2011 (MSD) '''''
:Thanks! =) It's been a fun six months. Hopefully we can get these spammers under control so we can focus on the fun stuff. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 22:40, 5 May 2011 (MSD)
::I hope so too - perhaps the updates we talked about will improve things! [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 12:47, 6 May 2011 (MSD)

== Blocking yourself? ==

Is everything okay? --[[User:John James|John James]] 21:37, 20 May 2011 (MSD)
:Not sure how I did that! =) All fixed now. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 22:10, 20 May 2011 (MSD)

I wasn't sure what would happen in that situation...didn't know if you needed another admin to perform an unblock. --[[User:John James|John James]] 12:06, 21 May 2011 (MSD)

:No, it's always possible for an admin to unblock himself. The only way to stop a rogue admin is to de-admin him, and for that you need a bureaucrat. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 17:54, 21 May 2011 (MSD)

== Country migration ==
Hello, can you please use a bot to migrate all countries, so they use the {{t|Infobox Country}} template instead of {{t|Infobox}}? Only one page (Ireland) is adapted to the new version of the template so far, the rest is basically broken. Until the migration process is finished, we can at least avoid the ugliness. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 23:40, 22 May 2011 (MSD)

:[[Ireland]] has a working infobox because it uses {{tlx|Infobox islands}}, and not a "country" one. As for regular countries, it would be preferable to migrate to [[Template:Infobox country|the one that already exists]], which is more flexible and advanced...although I'm not sure how well a bot could handle that migration, as the data fields may be too different from the old infobox template. If anyone feels like doing code work, it would be nice if the original country infobox could be debugged. The template itself seems to work fine on most countries, but the documentation on the template page includes some kind of syntax or function that screws up the page. Check out [[United States]] to see the template in action. --[[User:John James|John James]] 00:03, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

::Okay - so when can be new template(s) and the migration to them completed? If it is within a few days, then let's have it; if not, a bot will provide a quick fix, so we can avoid the broken look and missing data. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 00:23, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

:::I'm not sure what you're asking. What is the "broken look" you're talking about? Could you provide a link to an example? --[[User:John James|John James]] 01:21, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

::::[[Egypt]] uses [[Template:Infobox]] and nothing appears (except a little gray line in Chrome). It would be helpful but not necessary if parameters in {{tl|Infobox}} were the same or similar as those in the destination infobox. We do need to figure out something to fix all these broken pages. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 04:14, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

:Okay so there isn't a "broken look", he just means the infobox doesn't appear...like, as if there weren't an infobox there yet. I'm not really sure why that is problem, let alone such an urgent issue. And I certainly don't see how simply not showing an infobox equates to "ugliness". If I'm not mistaken ''most'' of the 720 articles on here don't have infoboxes yet. I could understand if it made the page load funny or crowded the whole section with error messages, but it's basically as if there just isn't an infobox yet. I certainly wouldn't refer to this as "broken pages".

:The way I see it they were all going to have to get redone anyway. The info included is minimal and mostly outdated. And to be honest, that bare-bones look with disproportionate and disaligned formatting actually detracted from the page in my opinion. I don't see what's wrong with simply updating each page with a new infobox just as we would with any other edit. {{nowrap|--[[User:John James|John James]] 12:23, 23 May 2011 (MSD)}}

::I have answered on your [[User talk:John James|Talk page]] for clarification. I'll also open a new section in the [[MisesWiki:Commons|Commons]] to open a discussion about what should be part of the new infobox. [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 15:42, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

::John, it's a big step (because it implies worthlessness) to delete content, which is essentially what the infobox changes have resulted in. There wasn't any discussion regarding this "deletion", so unless we develop a consensus that the content is worthless, my position is that we need to bring the content back and improve it. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 16:03, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

:::First, apologies, as I didn't realize that so many countries already had pages and were using that same box structure. (I now assume they were just migrated over from Pester's old wiki.) Suggestions posed at the Commons. --[[User:John James|John James]] 17:53, 23 May 2011 (MSD)

So I've got myself my own bot, experimented around and fixed [[Libya]]. Is it okay if I set the bot flag for the account (Pesterbot) or should we stick to one 'official' bot - namely Forgottenbot? It takes time to learn it, not to speak of the installation process, so I wouldn't mind somebody more qualified to do it. :)

Changes that need to be done:
* 'The World Facebook' -> 'The World Factbook' on all country pages
* '==External links==' -> '==Links==' on all pages where still present
* '{{Infobox' -> '{{Infobox Country' on countries without the 'new' template

[[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 02:02, 21 June 2011 (MSD)

:Looks good to me! Better to have multiple bots around anyway. Go ahead and tag yours. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 02:08, 21 June 2011 (MSD)

::And it is done. All praise AutoWikiBrowser! [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 01:34, 22 June 2011 (MSD)

== couple things ==

So...I guess the navbox thing is fixed? Never heard back on that.

And any word on images? I posted a message in the google group last week and still haven't gotten a response. I noticed you added a new image and it has the same issue. --[[User:John James|John James]] 02:18, 2 June 2011 (MSD)
:I haven't done anything with navbox class yet... still need to address it.
:I think the image issue is relatively complex. That's next on my list of things to research. Once thumbnails are fixed we can perhaps see about pulling images from Commons. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 03:02, 2 June 2011 (MSD)

Does the navbox still look broken? Do you have an example of what it should look like? --[[User:John James|John James]] 03:12, 2 June 2011 (MSD)

== Deleting users ==

Another thought on the side: surely we can delete users, that were inactive for some time and never edited anything (at least anything that would survive). Most of the spam accounts are just placeholders that are never used. How about deleting them after, say, three months? [[User:Pestergaines|Pestergaines]] 16:35, 4 July 2011 (MSD)

:I [http://groups.google.com/a/mises.com/group/wiki/browse_thread/thread/cd76f64202ce4c7d?hl=en# proposed this weeks ago] and even provided a relatively easy way to do it, but of course never got a response. {{nowrap|--[[User:John James|John James]] 02:12, 5 July 2011 (MSD)}}

::I didn't consider this something to be particularly worried about, especially since it would take additional effort to merge and delete all these accounts. If we want that extension we can push for it, but I'm more concerned about things like the images issue. I'm hoping that this week I get a chance to ask mediawiki folks about that issue in particular. --[[User:Forgottenman|Forgottenman]] ([[User talk:Forgottenman|talk]]) 04:10, 5 July 2011 (MSD)

== Your welcoming of a new account user. ==

Thank you. :) [[User:An.fear.glas|an.fear.glas]] 00:53, 9 August 2011 (MSD)

Inflation in the Weimar Republic

2011-08-08T20:44:52Z

An.fear.glas: /* After the War */ grammar; clarification of cause and effect

[[File:Weimar Republic notes used as wallpaper, 1923.jpg|thumb|right|Weimar Republic notes being used as wallpaper, 1923]]
The '''inflation in the [[Weimar Republic]]''' was a period of [[hyperinflation]] in [[Germany]] between 1921 and 1923. It was one of the most extreme hyperinflations in the world's history.

==Before the end of the War==
The [[German Empire]] in 1914 was economically the most powerful country in Europe. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], the total money supply was at around 6 billion Marks: composed of ''Reichsbanknoten'' (banknotes from the [[Reichsbank]]), ''Reichskassenscheine'' (imperial treasury notes), private banknotes, gold coins and token coins. The duty to redeem the ''Reichsbanknoten'' for gold by the Reichsbank was repealed. One third of the nominal value of banknotes still had to be backed by gold, current German money, or the ''Reichskassenscheine''. In addition to these, however, a new type of banknote was also allowed as backing: the ''Darlehenskassenscheine'', which were issued by newly formed ''Darlehenskassen'', that is, loan institutes run by the Reichsbank. The money could be issued up to the value of the granted loans, where [[collateral]] could be goods or [[bond]]s. These banknotes were not [[legal tender]], but were fully accepted by public cashier's offices and thus their acceptance was assured. This one law removed all limits on the creation of new money.

The public cashier's offices had to deliver all incoming gold coins to the Reichsbank. A massive ad campaign persuaded the population to give their gold coins to the Empire. The people eagerly responded, and about 1 billion in gold was exchanged for Reichsbanknoten.

With the outbreak of the war, Germany's exports shrank dramatically, while imports fell only somewhat, causing significant outflows of gold. This, combined with the cost of the military, made an expansion of the money supply necessary—at the end of 1914 it was at 7.2 billion. The large occupied territories (like [[Belgium]], [[Russia]], [[Poland]], and [[Romania]]) needed money in local currencies; their money was backed by the Reichsbank and its notes.

As the inflation continued, the country instituted [[price controls]] to attempt to limit the rising prices. First established in 1914 for everyday items, the number of regulated goods grew throughout the war.<ref name="Gaettens_German">Richard Gaettens. ''Geschichte der Inflationen Von Altertum bis zum Gegenwart'' (German: History of Inflations from Old Ages to the Present), ''Die grosse Deutsche Inflation von 1914 bis 1923'' (The Great German Inflation from 1914 to 1923) p. 237-278. ISBN: ISBN 3-87045-211-0. Referenced 2010-11-21.</ref>

The [[First World War]] cost Germany in total 160 billion Mark. In 1914–1918 only 13.1 percent of the costs were financed out of recurring revenues. (In [[World War Two]], September 1939 to September 1944 it was about 50% percent of the costs.) Of the costs, 24.8% were paid as "floating debt" (i.e., by printing money), while the remaining 62.1% were state bonds signed by German citizens. In comparison, [[Great Britain]] paid 28% out of its recurring tax revenues. The reason for this financing was a lack of tax base: the ''Reich'' did not have a unified financial administration, and the German states were still very independent.<ref name="Aly">Götz Aly. "Hitlers Volksstaat" (in English published as "Hitler's Beneficiaries: How the Nazis Bought the German People"), p.33. ISBN 978-3-596-15863-8. Referenced 2011-03-19.</ref>

==After the War==
The armistice was signed on the 11 November 1918{{Fact}}, to be followed by a peace treaty. But its terms were born of the fear, that the war may not be over.

The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed on on 28th June of 1919. [[Germany]] accepted it under heaviest pressure, shortly after the [[Blockade of Germany|blockade]] was removed, allowing much needed resources and food supplies to be imported. Arguably, the reparations were the most important cause of the destruction of the German [[mark]]. As a part of the peace conditions, that Germany with its allies accepted their role as attackers and responsibility for all damages and losses caused. All damages should be repaid, including pensions for war victims and the costs for the upkeep of the occupation army. All heavy weaponry should be handed over, with the entire war fleet and many locomotives and railroad cars. A large part of the business fleet had to be delivered and coal in millions of tons was to be supplied to several countries for up to ten years.

The German government was in financial trouble even before the Treaty - and the revolutions, uprisings and strikes did little to help. Therefore, several new taxes and tariffs were introduced. The tariffs should be paid in gold and increased dramatically. The expenses were still not covered. The government's debt rose from 38.6 billion in January, 1919, to 176.6 billion in May, 1921, the banknotes in circulation rose in the same period from 23.647 to 71.863 billion. If the public did not take over a large part of the debt, the money supply could have been even higher. The exchange rate to the [[U.S. dollar|dollar]] rose from 7.95 to 65.18 in this time.

Germany had to start paying reparations immediately, their final value was assessed in January 1921. With gradually increasing payments, it should pay 226 billion goldmark over a period of 42 years. In addition, every year should Germany pay 12% of its exports, as security should serve all tariffs and all import and export taxes. The German side agreed to the payments, providing the already paid sums were subtracted from the total; the 12% of all exports were declared to be impossible to accept.

[[Lloyd George]], Britain's Prime Minister strongly refused these suggestions. Several cities in Rhine area were occupied and the customs in occupied areas were confiscated. A new payment plan was formed in April 1921 and, coupled with an [[London Ultimatum|ultimatum]] of occupying the whole Ruhr region, it was accepted by the German government. The new plan had lowered the total reparations to 136 billion goldmark. 2 billion goldmark should be paid each year, and a higher part of the exports (26%).

For the first down payment of 1 billion goldmark in August 1921, the German government was able to get, with great difficulties, 600 million in gold. The remaining 400 million came from short-term loands from banks. The exchange rate with the dollar rose to 86.37 marks. The short-term loans needed constant refinancing and the exchange rate rose to to 115.50 in September. By the time of the next payment in November was the rate at 310 mark per dollar. In this period Germany also lost the industrially strong Upper Silesia.

The difficulties of getting the necessary means led the German government to announce, that it could not make the payments in 1922 and requested a reprieve. The attempts to resolve the issue failed and by the end of the year was the exchange rate 7650 marks per dollar. The debt grew from January, 1922 by 52 billion, in the next three months by 150 billion and in the final three months by over 1000 billion. The prices and wages followed the debasement of the mark. While initially was over a half of the debt held by the public, at the end of the year was most of it held by the Reichsbank. As a consequence, the banknotes in circulation rose from 115 to 316 billion, then to 1280 billion in December.

The Reichsbank was made nominally independent from the government, but that action didn't stop the inflation. The backing of banknotes was temporarily repealed. Germany requested to be freed from all payments for at least a few years, until the necessary reforms were made. A conference in Paris in January, 1923, failed to resolve the issues, where Germany was blocked by France. The [[Ruhr]] was occupied.

The occupation was considered a breach of the Treaty of Versailles. The German government stopped all payments to France and Belgium and announced passive resistance in the occupied areas. The French army went aggressively after income of any sort, with confiscations and downright theft. The inflation broken out in full. The exchange rate of the dollar rose in the first six months of 1923 to 74 750 mark. In August it was a million, in October a billion, in November it was over a trillion per dollar. The impact on life was unimaginable and the mark effectively stopped being a means of payment.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Reform of the mark==
The reform of the mark was considered since 1920. Many called for the return of the goldmark, others suggested backing by other means. By the year 1922 were in agricultural areas like Mecklenburg an Oldenburg prices and rents based on a pound of rye. Several districts issued bonds quoted in the price of rye. Other commodities were used, like coal or potash to back loans and bonds.

The escalating economic situation with plundering and revolts called for action. On the 27th September, 1923, the government declared a state of emergency and abdicated. A new government completed the reform plan: the new currency should be the '''[[Rentenmark]]''', based on gold. It was not declared [[legal tender]], no conversion ratio with the paper mark was set, nor was it actually backed by gold - there was not enough of it in Germany. The issuing bank, the "[[Deutsche Rentenbank]]" was independent from the outset. The new money was not based on the state, but on the economy itself. The agricultural sector and the industries each took on a half of the bank's capital in the form of debt - [[mortgage]]s in the value of 4% of all lands used for agriculture and forestry, and debt issued by the industries, crafts and trades, each in amount of 1600 million goldmark. The basic capital of 3200 million mark was the backing of the Rentenmark, and the bank could issue up to this amount of the new money (but the top limit was never reached, the maximum in circulation was 2.1 billion<ref name="Rentenbank_History">Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. [http://www.rentenbank.de/cms/dokumente/10011459_262579/8852134e/Historie.pdf "Die Geschichte der Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank"] (pdf, in ''German''), referenced 2010-11-19.</ref>).

Anyone who would deliver at least 500 Rentenmark could redeem them for "Rentenbriefe" - bonds with a 5% interest rate, quoted in goldmark. The Rentenbank issued them in an amount equal to its capital. It could issue money (the Rentenmarks) only up to the amount of Rentenbriefe it held. In this way, the Rentenmark should be a bridge to a new golden mark.

The Rentenbank was founded on 15th October of 1923 and [[Hjalmar Schacht]] was put into a key government position to execute the reform plan. The stabilisation was done according to the exchange rate to the dollar on the Stock Exchange in Berlin, which was at the 20th November 4200 billion mark.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

===Notgeld===
Cities have produced metal money during the war and after it. With the ever-growing devaluation of the currency, the demand grew correspondingly.

The Reichsbank had to call upon private printing works for the production of banknotes, in 1923 were 30 paper factories and 133 printing works busy with their production. The number of printing presses (1723 running day and night in autumn 1923) could be still increased, but the capacities for the special paper for banknotes could not keep up with the demand. The Reichsbank therefore welcomed and in many cases supported the issue of ''Notgeld'' (emergency money) by municipalities, districts, provinces and private enterprises. It was estimated, that at the end of 1922 there were about 20 billion in circulation - as opposed to 1280 billion of official money. By the end of 1923 there were 400 to 500 billion of Notgeld in value of about 500 million goldmark, so about the same amount as the official banknotes. There was also "value-stable" money in the same amount. The Notgeld was not only used to assist the Reichsbank, but many produced it to great profit.

In November, 1923, the Reichsbank stopped accepting the Notgeld, and wanted to exchange its sizable reserves in their places of issue, causing a great outcry. It took until the end of October, 1924, to exchange most of the Notgeld and the economy could finally stabilize.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

==Effects of the inflation==
Germany had a large and wealthy middle class, and exactly this class was the hardest hit. Especially desperate was the situation of people living off rents. Many families of high repute and constituting a significant part of the higher officialdom lost all of their property and status. Some have chosen the ''Freitod'' ("free death"). The Reichsgericht (Imperial Court) decided, that a mark equaled a mark, and that old debts could be settled in worthless paper money. Many did so; the taxes were also paid in this way, leaving the state to live exclusively from the printing press.

The price of a mark differed strongly at the stock exchanges outside from the prices in Germany. This attracted many foreigners to buy and live in Germany for cheap, buying up everything from common goods to company shares and land. The Germans were not less inclined to speculation. From this period comes the term "Luftgeschäft" (lit. "air-business"), trading of nonexistent goods in a long chain, where the last buyer was the fool. By 1922 were most people still not aware of what was going on, and growing loans and prices seemed like great opportunities.

The rationing laws, that basically forced families to break them and use the black market, shook the foundations of trust in laws. The wages of officials were always raised too late, leading to corruption. A shocking number of packages were misappropriated at the railways and the post office. Many felt betrayed by the state.

In 1923 fell the currency apart. The [[Flight into real goods|flight into "real values"]] began, everyone sought to get rid of the money as fast as possible. By that time, it wasn't even worth robbing a money transport, as it was in 1919 or 1920. According to the German economist Adolf Weber, the inflation caused much worse damage than the destructive four years of war.<ref name="Gaettens_German" />

The last reparation payment of £59m was made on Sunday, October 3, 2010.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315869/Germany-end-World-War-One-reparations-92-years-59m-final-payment.html Mail Online]</ref>

==Inflation in numbers==
[[File:Weimar Hyperinflation Chart.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Graphical representation on a logarithmic scale of Weimar hyperinflation]]
{| class="prettytable" style="text-align:right"
! Date<ref name="Gaettens_German" />
! Exchange rate of the dollar in [[mark]]s
! Banknotes in circulation, millions
! Floating debt in treasuries, total, billions of marks
|-
| January 1919
| 7.95
| 23 647
| 58.6
|-
| April 1919
| 11.26
| 26 628
| 67.2
|-
| July 1919
| 13.75
| 29 268
| 76.1
|-
| October 1919
| 23.83
| 30 928
| 83.3
|-
| January 1920
| 49.80
| 37 443
| 88.3
|-
| April 1920
| 67
| 47 939
| 95.1
|-
| July 1920
| 37.90
| 55 768
| 112.7
|-
| October 1920
| 61.62
| 63 596
| 140.6
|-
| January 1921
| 74.50
| 66 620
| 155.5
|-
| April 1921
| 62.62
| 70 839
| 172.7
|-
| July 1921
| 75
| 77 390
| 190.8
|-
| October 1921
| 124.50
| 91 527
| 202.9
|-
| January 1922
| 186.75
| 115 375
| 255.9
|-
| April 1922
| 298
| 140 420
| 281.1
|-
| July 1922
| 402
| 189 794
| 308.0
|-
| October 1922
| 1815
| 469 456
| 331.5
|-
| January 1923
| 7260
| 1 984 496
| 2081.8
|-
| February 1923
| 41 500
| 3 512 787
| 3588.0
|-
| March 1923
| 22 800
| 5 517 919
| 6601.3
|-
| April 1923
| 21 100
| 6 545 984
| 8442.3
|-
| May 1923
| 31 700
| 8 563 749
| 10 275.0
|-
| June 1923
| 74 750
| 17 291 061
| 22 019.8
|-
| July 1923
| 160 000
| 43 594 737
| 57 848.9
|-
| August 1923
| 1 100 000
| 663 200 050
| 1 196 294.7
|-
| September 1923
| 9 700 000
| 28 228 815 494
| 46 716 616.4
|-
| October 1923
| 242 000 000
| 2 496 822 909 039
| 6 907 511 102.8
|-
| November 1923
| 130 000 000 000
| 400 267 640 301 854
| 191 580 465 422.1
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [http://mises.org/books/hyperinflation.pdf Exchange, Prices, and Production in Hyper-Inflation: Germany, 1920-1923] (pdf) by E. W. Kemmerer
* [http://mises.org/MMMP/MMMP7.ASP The Great German Inflation] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap9a.asp Omnipotent Government: Weimar and its Collapse] by Ludwig von Mises
* [http://mises.org/books/economicsofinflation.pdf 'The Economics of Inflation'] (pdf) by Costantino Bresciani-Turroni, 1931
* [http://www.econ.puc-rio.br/pdf/TD159.pdf 'The Rentenmark Miracle'] (pdf), Gustavo H.B. Franco, May 1987
* [http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE7_1_1.pdf Hyperinflation and Hyperreality: Thomas Mann in Light of Austrian Economics], by Paul A. Cantor, 1994
* [http://mises.org/daily/3661 My Summer Reading: Hyper-Inflation in Weimar Germany] by Ralph Fucetola, September 2009
* [[Wikipedia:Inflation in the Weimar Republic|Inflation in the Weimar Republic]] on Wikipedia
[[Category:Inflations|Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:History of Germany]]