List of tables and figures; List of contributors; Preface; 1. Fears of deflation and the role of monetary policy: some lessons and an overview Richard C. K. Burdekin and Pierre L. Siklos; Part I. Fears of Deflation and the Role of Monetary Policy: 2. Deflation, silent runs, and bank holidays in the great contraction Hugh Rockhoff; 3. Price change, financial stability, and the British economy, 1870-1939 Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood; 4. Deflation dynamics in Sweden: perceptions, expectations, and adjustment during the deflations of 1921-1923 and 1931-1933 Klas Fregert and Lars Jonung; Part II. Deflation and Asset Prices: 5. Boom-busts in asset prices, economic instability, and monetary policy Michael D. Bordo and Olivier Jeanne; 6. Deflation, credit and asset prices Charles Goodhart and Boris Hofmann; Part III. International Perspectives on Deflation: 7. Is deflation depressing? Evidence from the classical gold standard Michael D. Bordo and Angela Redish; 8. The strong Lira policy and deflation in Italy's interwar period Michele Fratianni and Franco Spinelli; 9. Deflation and stagnation in Japan: collapse of the monetary transmission mechanism and echo from the 1930s Michael M. Hutchison; Part IV. Stock Market Adjustment to Deflation: 10. Deflation, the financial crises of the 1890s, and Stock Exchange responses in London, New York, Paris, and Berlin Lance Davis, Larry Neal, and Eugene White; 11. The Stock Market and the business cycle in periods of deflation, (hyper-)inflation, and political turmoil: Germany 1913-1926 Martin T. Bohl and Pierre L. Siklos; 12. Deflationary pressures and the role of gold stocks: 1929, 1987 and today Richard C. K. Burdekin and Marc D. Weidenmier; References; Index.