Evening star., 1933-08-13

Note-Tn recent article in this
AeUsp1per, IrDing Fisher, professor
OF Political Economy at Yale. gaze
his pieus on hoD President Roosevelt
could bring the proposed managed
dollar into existence and keep it
Mere He said StDeden had been
Stdbihzing her price lepel for more
than a yedr and hail. and that,
iDhile gold standard country price
! lepels had dropped 20 per cent,
S,Deden had held hers steady Dithin
/ J per cent and usually per cent.
Z The tollo1ping dispatch shows hoD
Sueden manages stdbilisation:
- TOCKHOLM - AS Prof. Irving
Fisher pointed out recently, sta
bilization of currency is not nee
~ essarily stabiliZation relatively to
gold. The stabilization of most
interest and importance to the man In
the street Is stabilization of buying
power of the currency he may be car
Tying.
There is one country which for near
9y two years has directed its monetary
6olicy to this goal, which it has so far
managed to keep well within sight.
That country is Sweden.
The Swedish krona dropped IS per
Bent of its gold value in q few days
In September, 1881. Since then 1t has
dropped another IS per cent. Ex-
change rates have gone up and down.
but one thing always has remained
steady, with variations of or 2 per
cent, and that is the value of the krona
in the hand of the Swedish citizen for
his every day purposes OF paying Tor
food clothes. rent etc.
How has it been done? An investi-
gator is at once met with a counter
question: Has it been done" at all?
Has 1t not just happened?
Experts Are Not Sure.
That Is the question Swedish Rlks-
bank officials themselves are asking.
and they do not pretend to be ovel-
sure Of the answer. At present there
Is in Stockholm an American expert
who has been studying these matters
Prof. Benjamin Haggott Beckhart. Co.
pretend either to be very cure.
Prof Beckhart believes, however, the
Swedish monetary authorities have
done very good work. It is obvious, he
says, that Sweden has avoided the mis-
takes and abuses Of currency manage
ment committed elsewhere-such as
deliberately depreciating the national
surrency to gain a temporary advan-
tage in the export market.
Inc 1DteQllOQS DenlQQ CQe monetary
policy followed by the Swedish govern
ment and Riksbank are clear in some
respects, slightly obscure in Others
The declared object since the country
was forced off gold has been to keep
the value of the krona constant in
the hand of the Swedish consumer. 1t
Is remarkable how that has succeeded
The general commodity index of the
Riksbank Is 80 today Ctaking Sep
tember. 1881, as 100), and it never has
been higher than 102 or lower than 90.
Living Costs Not to Be Affected.
But then the Riksdag added to its
sanction Of the departure from the
gold standard recommendation that
q moderate rise Of the wholesale prices
was to be aimed at, while. however,
the cost Of living must not be affected
to any considerable extent.
The commercial interests have played
their part in deciding the course to
be followed. These interests are linked
to a great extent to Great Britain's,
and it could not have been possible to
steer a course far from the pound
sterling As matter of fact, the krona
has followed the pound closely enough
for Sweden to be included among the
s'sterling group
But the central point in the Riks-
bank poIcy-the commodity stabiliza-
fion Of the krona-has been accom-
plished by adapting the discount rate
to the needs Of the moment and by
operations in the exchange market.
As q guide in its decisions, the Riks-
bank developed special commodity in