Denationalisation of Money: The Argument Refined
Appendix: The Destruction of Paper Money, 1950-1975
APPENDIX
THE DESTRUCTION OF PAPER MONEY,
1950-1975
1950-1975
| Country | Percentage Decline in Purchasing Power | Percentage Increase in Cost-of-Living | Percentage Change in Free or Black Market Value1 |
| Chile | 99 | 11,318,874 | -99 |
| Uruguay | 99 | 323,173 | -99 |
| Argentina | 99 | 196,675 | -99 |
| Brazil | 99 | 61,000 | -99 |
| Bolivia | 99 | 50,792 | -99 |
| Korea, South | 99 | 37,935 | -47 |
| Viet Nam | 99 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Paraguay | 97 | 3,058 | -86 |
| Iceland | 95 | 1,789 | -91 |
| Israel | 94 | 1,684 | -93 |
| Colombia | 93 | 1,262 | -91 |
| Turkey | 91 | 997 | -77 |
| Peru | 90 | 907 | -78 |
| Yugoslavia | 90 | 870 | -75 |
| Taiwan | 89 | 848 | -73 |
| Ghana | 85 | 587 | -63 |
| Spain | 82 | 466 | -16 |
| Mexico | 80 | 404 | -31 |
| Finland | 79 | 374 | +29 |
| Ireland | 78 | 363 | -23 |
| Japan | 78 | 362 | +39 |
| United Kingdom | 78 | 345 | -20 |
| Greece | 76 | 314 | -51 |
| France | 75 | 305 | -13 |
| Denmark | 74 | 282 | +56 |
| Portugal | 74 | 279 | -26 |
| India | 73 | 275 | -41 |
| Norway | 73 | 272 | +73 |
| Philippines | 73 | 272 | -59 |
| Iran | 73 | 271 | -22 |
| Sudan | 73 | 270 | n.a. |
| Ecuador | 73 | 267 | -29 |
| New Zealand | 73 | 266 | -19 |
| Australia | 73 | 265 | +30 |
| Sweden | 72 | 261 | +38 |
| Burma | 72 | 257 | n.a. |
| Italy | 72 | 253 | -6 |
| Austria | 71 | 243 | +71 |
| Netherlands | 68 | 216 | +52 |
| Costa Rica | 67 | 207 | -6 |
| Thailand | 67 | 207 | +4 |
| South Africa | 67 | 204 | -16 |
| Syria | 66 | 191 | -6 |
| Tunisia | 62 | 160 | n.a. |
| Belgium | 61 | 155 | +26 |
| Canada | 59 | 142 | +3 |
| Dominican Republic | 58 | 136 | -22 |
| Switzerland | 57 | 133 | +63 |
| United States | 57 | 131 | -752 |
| El Salvador | 57 | 130 | -7 |
| Germany, West | 53 | 115 | +110 |
| Egypt | 52 | 107 | -41 |
| Sri Lanka | 51 | 103 | -61 |
| Iraq | 49 | 95 | +11 |
| Malaysia | 47 | 87 | +39 |
| Venezuela | 45 | 82 | -22 |
| Guatemala | 44 | 77 | – |
| Panama | 40 | 66 | – |
3Vis-à-vis the US Dollar.
Source: Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher from Franz Pick, Pick’s Currency Yearbook: 1976-77 Edition, Pick Publishing Corporation, New York, 1977.
4Depreciation in terms of gold, based on US $141-00 per ounce free market gold price at end of 1975 vs. US $3500 per ounce official price in 1950.
