Siam and the Gold Standard, 1902–1908

In the final three decades of the nineteenth century, the world price of silver fell dramatically. On the London silver market, the price dropped almost without check, from an average of 60d. per ounce in 1870 to 28d. per ounce in 1900. For those countries on the silver standard (and at the beginning of the period this included all the states of Southeast Asia), the result was a substantial, continuous depreciation of their currencies against gold-based currencies, most notably sterling. In turn this threatened to disturb severely the foreign trade and capital inflows of those states at a time when they were becoming more closely integrated into the international economy. For example, frequent changes in the exchange rate introduced an element of speculation into trade with gold-standard countries, with the result that merchants' calculations of profit margins were frequently thrown into confusion by sudden fluctuations in the exchange. Moreover, with the exchange value of their currency falling, these states found themselves paying increasingly more in terms of the local currency to secure the same sterling value of imports. This was a particularly important consideration for those countries dependent upon imports of capital goods, for example, mining machinery or railway equipment, as these were obtained almost solely from the gold-standard states of western Europe

Bullion · Capital formation · Capital outflow · Currency · Depreciation (economics) · Economics · Economy · Exchange rate · Financial capital · Fluid ounce (US) · Geography · International economics · Macroeconomics · Monetary economics · Political science · Profit (economics) · Speculation · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

• The Ministry Disunited and Revived, 1906–10

  Ian Brown•Creation of the Modern Ministry…•1992

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• Money and Empire

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• Money and Empire

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• The Economic Development of South-East Asia

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• Western Enterprise in Indonesia and Malaya

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• A Gold Standard for the Straits Settlements

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• Western Enterprise in Indonesia and Malaya

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• British Financial Advisers in Siam in the Reign of King Chulalongkorn

  Open Access•Ian Brown•Modern Asian Studies•1978

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