I have not included those countries--Russia, Poland, and Austria--where the old currency has long been bankrupt. But it will be observed that, even apart from the countries which have suffered revolution or defeat, no quarter of the world has escaped a violent movement. In the United States, where the gold standard has functioned unabated, in Japan, where the war brought with it more profit than liability, in the neutral country of Sweden, the changes in the value of money have been comparable with those in the United Kingdom. INDEX NUMBERS OF WHOLESALE PRICES EXPRESSED AS A PERCENTAGE OF 1913 (1). +-----------------------------------+--------------------------------+ |Monthly Average. |U.S.A. (3). | | |United Kingdom (2). | |Canada. | | | |France. | | |Japan. | | | | |Italy. | | | |Sweden. | | | | | |Germany.| | | | |India.| +-------+-----+----- +-----+--------+-----+----- +-----+----- +------+ |1913 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100| 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | .. | |1914 | 100 | 102 | 96 | 106| 98 | 100 | 95 | 116 | 100 | |1915 | 127 | 140 | 133 | 142| 101 | 109 | 97 | 145 | 112 | |1916 | 160 | 189 | 201 | 153| 127 | 134 | 117 | 185 | 128 | |1917 | 206 | 262 | 299 | 179| 177 | 175 | 149 | 244 | 147 | |1918 | 227 | 340 | 409 | 217| 194 | 205 | 196 | 339 | 180 | |1919 | 242 | 357 | 364 | 415| 206 | 216 | 239 | 330 | 198 | |1920 | 295 | 510 | 624 | 1,486| 226 | 250 | 260 | 347 | 204 | |1921 | 182 | 345 | 577 | 1,911| 147 | 182 | 200 | 211 | 181 | |1922 | 159 | 327 | 562 | 34,182| 149 | 165 | 196 | 162 | 180 | |1923[A]| 159 | 411 | 582 | 765,000| 157 | 167 | 192 | 166 | 179 | +-------+-----+----- +-----+--------+-----+----- +-----+----- +------+ (1) These figures are taken from the _Monthly Bulletin of Statistics_ of the League of Nations. (2) _Statist_ up to 1919; thereafter the median of the _Economist_, _Statist_, and Board of Trade Index Numbers. (3) Bureau of Labour Index Number (revised). [A] First half-year. From 1914 to 1920 all these countries experienced an expansion in the supply of money to spend relatively to the supply of things to purchase, that is to say _Inflation_. Since 1920 those countries which have regained control of their financial situation, not content with bringing the Inflation to an end, have contracted their supply of money and have experienced the fruits of _Deflation_. Others have followed inflationary courses more riotously than before. In a few, of which Italy is one, an imprudent desire to deflate has been balanced by the intractability of the financial situation, with the happy result of comparatively stable prices.