Influence of -Credit on Prices 



25 



ately following a crisis — in fact, what has been termed a double 

 crisis — that is, an increase in prices followed by a reaction. 

 Prices show less liability to reaction after the later crises than 

 after the earlier ones, as seen in the following table of reactions 

 in prices in England, United States, France, and Germany: 



Table XVI 

 Reactions in Prices 



Table XVII is designed to give a comprehensive view of the 

 movement of prices in the United States, England, Germany, and 

 France. 



The spread of prices^ is one measure of the severity of the 

 crisis, since the severity is in direct proportion to the amount of 

 speculation going on, and the height to which prices rise is de- 

 pendent upon the extent of speculation. Naming the countries 

 in the order of the average spread of prices, England has suffered 

 most from crises, France next, followed by the United States 

 and Germany respectively. It is very probable, however, that if 

 the later crises were included in the tables, a different order 

 would be obtained. 



The spread of prices at particular crises is important. For 

 the crisis of 1857 the order of greatest spread is England, Ger- 

 many, the United States, and France. The order for the crisis 

 of 1864-66 is France, England, and Germany. A still different 

 order is obtained for the crisis of 1873: England, the United 

 States, France, and Germany. 



Judging from the spread of prices, the crisis of 1873 was much 

 more severe than the crisis of 1857. In the latter case the aver- 



^The spread of prices is obtained by comparing the highest point in 

 prices before the crisis with the lowest point following the crisis. 



65 



