日露戦後の正貨政策と財政
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概要
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The purpose of this article is to investigate the process of Japan's specie policy after the Russo-Japanese War, mainly between 1911 and 1914, in relation to public-finance policy. It is generally thought that the foreign capital imported by external debt had a great influence on the Japanese economy of this period. Specie policy and public-finance policy of this period had two important turning points. First, from a Positive-Specie-Policy and a Positive-Financial-Policy to a Positive-Specie-Policy and a Retrenchment-Finance, and then to a Negative-Specie-Policy and a Retrenchment-Finance. Public-finance policy changed from the Positive-Financial-Policy to the Retrenchment-Finance owing to the financial pressure due to the economic crisis of 1907. But as for specie policy, although there was a conflict between the Positive-Specie-Policy and the Negative-Specie-Policy in the Department of Finance and the Bank of Japan from the end of Meiji period, it was just before World War I that the Negative-Specie-Policy was thoroughly carried out. This conflict as to specie policy was a conflict as to the basic trend of economic policy, like the change from Okuma's public-finance policy to Matsukata's in the early Meiji period, or the conflict over the problem of returning to the gold standard in the early Showa period. The purpose of specie policy after the Russo-Japanese War was to defend the gold standard by balancing the current account deficit. While the Positive-Specie-Policy aimed at future balance of current accounts and insisted on maintaining economic development by means of supplementing specie by external debt and a cheap-money policy, the Negative-Specie-Policy aimed at immediate balance and persisted in reductions of the economy by means of lesser external debts, a dear-money policy and retrenchment-finance. The Positive-Specie-Policy and the Negative-Specie-Policy agreed as to the need for the Retrenchment-Finance, but differed in content. Differences arose from the fact that the Negative-Specie-Policy insisted on general retrenchment in order to lower prices by decreasing convertible bank notes, while the Positive-Specie-Policy emphasized the provision of funds for industrial growth. Even though there was a limited choice in public-finance policy due to the specie crisis and financial pressures, we can see that the differences of specie policy influenced over public-finance policy. We should appreciate more than we have that this process of specie policy and public-finance policy accelerated Japan's economic growth. Since the Retrenchment-Finance did reduce the pressure on the private economy and the Negative-Specie-Policy was not carried out completely, economic growth continued by depending on foreign capital. Thus, the basis for the economic development during World War I was formed.
- 財団法人史学会の論文
- 1989-01-20