Currency Problems.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19197, 10 October 1930, Page 6

Currency Problems.

To the Editor. Dear Sir,—lt is pleasing to know someone appreciates one’s efforts to deal with social and economic problems to the best of one’s abilities. Your correspondent “ Oudeis ” has unfortunately misunderstood me completely. My contention was and is that currency deflation cannot be achieved by means of wage reduction and any reduction imposed on the workers of any country will mean merely a compulsory reduction in their standard of living and in no way will it alleviate depression, but on the contrary aggravate them considerably. I do not wish to indulge in a controversy on the currency question. That begins forty years ago. I believe currency is merely a medium of exchange and has not got to have intrinsic value when used as such. That is why a bit of paper issued by a private person with some words on it in ink is of more value as currency than a gold sovereign. Gold to-day could be relegated to the job of balancing adverse trade balances between various countries and even bricks would do the job as well provided it was thought to be gold in the receptacles in which the gold is usually carried. Currency has evolved and the practice to-day bears little or no resemblance to that in vogue forty years ago.—l am, etc., J. N. HARLE.