As we know from chapter 6, in Britain monetary austerity hit starting in the spring of 1920, producing a slump that was followed by a decade of "doldrums." In Pigou's words: "Th e Doldrums was a period of relative stability and quasiequilibrium. But the equilibrium was not a healthy one, because it was characterised throughout by a very large amount of involuntary idleness" (Pigou 1947, 42).

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1731