>...And all of this was a direct result of the rigidity of the gold standard. The gold standard created a feedback loop that accelerated the global economy into

>...And all of this was a direct result of the rigidity of the gold standard. The gold standard created a feedback loop that accelerated the global economy into a brick wall--the brick wall being the reality of the finite supply of gold. Agreed, though like you said it is pretty complicated. The US had about 45% of world gold reserve in the early 20's and even though was a net exporter by 1929 had dropped to closer to 37% due in part to large capital lending to Europe. http://library.intellectualtakeout.org/library/chart-graph/world-gold-reserves-1925-1932 http://library.intellectualtakeout.org/library/chart-graph/w... A major issue though was the hoarding of gold by France: >...While the tightening of U.S. monetary policy in 1928 is often blamed for having initiated the downturn, France increased its share of world gold reserves from 7 percent to 27 percent between 1927 and 1932 and effectively sterilized most of this accumulation. This “gold hoarding” created an artificial shortage of reserves and put other countries under enormous deflationary pressure. https://www.dartmouth.edu/~dirwin/Did%20France%20Cause%20the%20Great%20Depression.pdf https://www.dartmouth.edu/~dirwin/Did%20France%20Cause%20the...