U.S. National Debt Increases by $500,000,000 (1931)

Today (2011), newspapers are carrying stories about the enormous increase in the American national debt. It’s a perennial story.  This article from the 3 June 1931 issue of the Milwaukee Journal reports the alarming news that the national debt will have increased by $500,000,000 at the end of the fiscal year 1930-1931.

President Hoover was proud to have reduced expenditures by $180,000,000 the previous summer.

The Great German Inflation of 1923-1924

One of the classic examples of inflation comes from Germany after World War I.  This article from the Dawson Daily News reports the situation, providing numbers incomprehensible even today. Still, these kinds of inflation do recur.  Recently, Zimbabwe issued banknotes for 100 trillion dollars before reissuing the currency,