money on the road to empire - Economic History Review

In macro-economic literature, Japan has at several times been treated as a canonical example of why countries joined the gold standard. On the one hand, the country has been linked to the argument that there exists a relationship between the gold standard and lowered borrowing costs; on the other, it has been discussed as motivated by a desire to expand its trade with gold standard countries. This paper argues against both strands in the literature, and expands the debate to include political factors as well. It demonstrates that the decision to move onto gold monometallism cannot be seen apart from an expansionist 'postbellum financial administration' in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese war. And it furthermore draws attention to the implications of the decision to hold a large specie reserve abroad. This project has been made possible by a generous grant from the European Research Council; Project Acronym: JapanGreatDepression, grant agreement number: 240854