Herbert Hoover: “The Consequences of the Proposed New Deal”

Glossary

• fiat money currency whose value is determined solely by the issuing government’s fiat, or order, that it should be accepted at a particular value
• greenbacks government-issued currency, as opposed to Federal Reserve notes (the latter being the only variety now circulating in the United States)
• inflation of the currency in general, an economic situation of rising prices, but here tied to the idea of increased money supply, which was believed to lower the purchasing power of the dollar
• unconvertible into solid values not exchangeable for fixed units of value, such as precious metals (as opposed to paper currency, whose value depends on the strength of the government that issues it)