Exchange Rates and Local Prices. Index of Two Local Newspapers

Greece's agricultural economy was the most important part of the country's economic activity during the interwar period. Raisin cultivation has been the most commercial and dynamic part of the agricultural economy since the 19th century. The main transit centre of the raisin trade and export pillar was the port of Patras. Given this data, we created a series of economic data focusing on the index changes of the raisin trade and the exchange rates. The aim is to detect the effect of various variables on the raisin trade. One variable is the fluctuations in exchange rates which highlight the impact of the national economy on international raisin trade.

As a result, the indexation of the -on a weekly basis- exchange rates resulted from their publication in the examined provincial press. The evolution of exchange rates over time is a useful indicator for assessing both the course of the national economy and individual regional phenomena. Foreign exchange prices are examined in both Athens and Patras to detect price trends during the crisis, the interaction of prices with international trade, and the diffusion of the crisis in the region. The purpose is also to identify any price differences on the local level and the impact of governmental policy on the local foreign exchange market, whereby the tendency to strengthen the centrally set exchange rates is clear. The range of exchange rates also depicts the market prices of raisins in foreign currency.

Another factor is the differentiation of product prices in relation to the local and quality parameters. There is also the periodic fluctuation of product prices both at a depth of thirteen years and seasonally, over time. The series of quantitative data depicts the market prices in the port of Patras in current drachmas. We are given the opportunity to assess the emergence and strengthening of the social protagonists of the rural movement in real living conditions. In the Notes column, information about the economic environment is displayed in order to facilitate the approach to natural, economic and social variables that interact with the conditions of production and distribution of raisins. The Events column presents facts related to the economic reality of the period under consideration. This way the diffusion of the economic crisis in the rural area is detected.

The file is in Excel.

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: Antonis Antoniou, “Exchange rates and local prices. Index of two local newspapers", TransMonEA project, Head of Research K. Bregianni, Academy of Athens / HFRI. URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr)

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The Creation of a Data Series of the Greek Economy. 1928-1939

The specific goal of this research is to capture the national economy during the Great Recession and in addition to create a series of big data that cover the period of the crisis up to the Second World War. These series will be useful in identifying changes, brought by the Great Depression in people's lives, as well as in identifying the impact of the crisis on the course of national economy.

The Statistical Service, with the annual publication of data in the Statistical Yearbook, largely covered this request. Their degree of credibility has been disputed (in general), but there is nothing more effective for the pre-war period. In addition to the Statistical Yearbook, there are also the reports of the Supreme Economic Council oriented towards the detection of aspects of the Greek economy and the financial yearbooks of the National Bank of Greece and the Bank of Greece. The Statistical Yearbook was an annual statistical summary, while the publications of the Supreme Economic Council are inspired by the dominant economic perspective. Moreover, the need to control any discrepancies between the data of the Statistical Yearbook and the Supreme Economic Council is imperative. Therefore, the subject matter of the published research provides us with a picture of the economic orientation and reflection of the rulers and the scientific elite of the time. The Council data were compiled under the intense reflection of the period to address the budgetary problems of adequacy and self-sufficiency of basic consumer goods, the strengthening of the secondary production sector and economic growth. The research on the economic nature of a top executive body of study of the Greek economy should not be ignored but, instead, it should be taken under serious consideration.

In 1920, the government of Dimitrios Gounaris proposed to the Parliament the establishment of a Supreme Economic Council according to the German model, but the issue found constitutional obstacles. Concerns and proposals for the establishment of the Supreme Economic Council were formulated in a very detailed way as early as 1922. In 1929, Eleftherios Venizelos commissioned A. Koryzis to draft a new law. After Koryzis' proposal, Georges Cahen Salvador, secretary of the National Economic Council of France, was invited to draft a new law, which was submitted to the  Parliament after some additions and improvements by Alexandros Svolos, in 1931. There were widespread objections and concerns about the formation of the council. In the end, the Prime Minister decided that the most appropriate solution would not be the creation of a large council with elements of professional representation, as elsewhere in Europe, but creating a council that would assume the character of an Institute for Economic Research. Following the submission of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, and with this in mind, the Supreme Economic Council (AOS) finally established the 5354/1932 Law. It was an executive body organically linked to governmental policy, chaired by the Prime Minister and its regular members, who the government appointed, while its extraordinary members were various secretaries of ministries and heads of public services. Despite its close association with the government, the first composition of the council in 1932 did not show a one-party identity of its members, quite the opposite. The council had an interdisciplinary composition as it consisted not only of economists but was also enriched by scientific staff with diverse scientific backgrounds and institutional social recognition. Some members on the board came from the business community, and especially the banking sector.

It is clear that the most prominent economists of the period participated in the Council. As a result of the scientific work, a series of studies was published in order to monitor the evolution of the Greek economy on an annual basis, as well as other studies that focused on aspects of the Greek economy. Its inquiries were made either following the council’s initiative or at the request of the respective governments and its views were of an advisory nature. In August 1936, Metaxas dictatorship subordinated some of the working goals of the AOS to the responsibilities of the then Ministry of Labor, which then belonged to the Ministry of National Economy. It strengthened the council with additional members without ceasing to recruit personalities of various political backgrounds. Several Council studies have been published in more than thirty volumes.

We have focused on the selection, study and evaluation of the data series per year to present a structured chronological order in a way that offers an overall picture of the economic activities. At the centre of our research, we placed the agricultural economy and succeeded in capturing its data, in such a way that it is possible to showcase its development over time. (For the mapping of the primary sector data series, see also "The creation of a data series of the Greek agricultural economy").

In the first phase, in order to be able to utilize the data series, the indicators that AOS has compiled had to be recorded. For this reason, data were collected on the general economic activity index and the table of specific indicators before and after weighing.

In order to give a comprehensive picture of the development of the total economic activity, we continued with the industrial production index and the weighed industrial production index by quantity. Aiming to investigate the financial changes in-depth, we have created a data series on the evolution of the regular revenues of the state, a comparative table of receipts of guaranteed revenues and a table of the distribution of expenses for the purpose of their use. In order to investigate monetary changes and the impact of currency protection measures, we proceeded to index, evaluate, and record banknote circulation, currency circulation, fluctuations of the three major currencies; also demand deposits and savings deposits of the five main banks, time deposits of big banks, demand deposits and savings deposits of the Agricultural Bank, total deposits, deposits of small banks and other Public Organizations (excluded Postal Bank), average loan repayment in gold and drachmas and wholesale index changes at Greek and international level.

AOS - National Economic Indices (Excel)

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: "Supreme Economic Council - National Economic Indices", TransMonEA project, Head of Research K. Bregianni, Academy of Athens / HFRI. URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr) .

It is not allowed to use parts or the whole of the tabulation.

In order to open the file, please fill in your application in the contact form: Contact (academyofathens.gr)

AOS - Secondary output indices (Excel)

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: A. Antoniou "Supreme Economic Council - Secondary Output Indices", TransMonEA project, Head of Research K. Bregianni, Academy of Athens / HFRI. URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr) . 

It is not allowed to use parts or all of the tabulation.

AOS - Financial data and Indices (Excel)

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: A. Antoniou "Supreme Economic Council - Financial Data and Indices", TransMonEA project, Head of Research: K. Bregianni, Academy of Athens / HFRI. 

URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr) . 

It is not allowed to use parts or all of the tabulation.

Supreme Economic Council - Financial Data (Excel)

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: A. Antoniou "Financial Data", TransMonEA Project, Head of Research: K. Bregianni, Academy of Athens / HFRI. 

URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr)

The use of parts or all of the tabulation is not allowed.

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Public Debt as a Key Variable of Public Finances and the Escalation of the Crisis

Servicing the public debt has been a key goal of the Greek governments. During this period, the widening of state and public sector deficits, exacerbated financial difficulties. The parameter of determining the course of public finances is analysed through the correlation of the quantitative elements of the public debt with the public expenditures. As recorded in the accounts, the deficits of the period are linked to the financial difficulties associated with the Great Depression of 1929-32. The economic and political priorities of the period 1923-1939 kept military and public debt expenditure high. In the early 1930s, the high level of public debt expediture shows the strong dependence of the public finances on the ability to borrow, as it is clear from the National Accounts mainly of the years 1923-1935. The settlement of the debts of the Greek State with its creditors imposed the inclusion of public revenues in the Commission Internationale Financière, in order to service the payments of the loans that were not included in a settlement and were under the control of the CIF: the course of servicing this part of the Public Debt recorded in the Annual Interim Reports of the CIF located in the Historical Archives of the Bank of France.

 Public Debt Service, (Excel) 

The use of individual entries is allowed, provided the source of reference: A. Antoniou-Katerina Bregianni "Public Debt as a Key Variable of Public Finances and the Escalation of the Crisis", TransMonEA Project, Head of Research K. Bregianni Academy of Athens / HFRI. 

URL: Public Finances (academyofathens.gr) .

 It is not allowed to use parts or the whole of the tabulation.

In order to open the file, please fill in your application in the contact form: Contact (academyofathens.gr)