Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 August 29

= August 29 =

Fighting inflation by printing less money?
To fighting inflation, instead of raising interest rates, can't we simply print less money? My understanding is that the Federal Reserve already has history of printing more money, why not less? I'm sure there's a good reason. I can't be the first one to think of this. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:50, 29 August 2022 (UTC)


 * It's rather complicated, since "Fractional-reserve banking" means there's more effective money in the economy than issued by the government, and there are various measurements of how much money there is (M1, M2, M3 etc). See Money supply... AnonMoos (talk) 19:37, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
 * In particular, there is a lot more money than physical currency. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:20, 29 August 2022 (UTC)


 * A commercial bank creates money when it grants a loan, while central banks can regulate how much they can lend (and thereby how much money they can create). The limits imposed are usually more concerned with preventing bank failure than fighting inflation, but "money printing" (by a central bank) is a colloquial term for a form of what more formally is called "quantitative easing", specifically by purchasing securities on the open financial market and adding the amounts to the the bank reserves of commercial banks. Quantitative "squeezing" instead of easing may not be the best way to fight inflation; if the conditions are not right, it might lead to stagflation. --Lambiam 09:31, 30 August 2022 (UTC)


 * My understanding is that the Fed mostly prints money to exchange with banks to replace worn-out bills. If you go to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, you can buy a bag containing thousands of dollars - ground into near-dust confetti. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 13:30, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Physical currency, which is to say paper bills and coins (M0), is a minor and mostly insignificant portion of the money supply. The vast majority of money exists as ledger entries in the banking computer systems.  -- Jayron 32 17:31, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

1945-1991 Baltic maps
There is a bit of a recurring theme around State continuity of the Baltic states, with a ANI thread ongoing. One of the arguments being pushed is that there would have been a broad consensus on non-recognition of the integrations of the 3 Baltic SSRs into the Soviet Union. This really isn't my area of expertise, but the argument clashes with my own impressions of this time period. Engaging in some original research, I tried to go through some contemporary maps to see if there was any established practice to visually distinguish the Baltics from the rest of the Soviet Union, ...and so forth. My question is, are there examples of contemporary Cold War era maps that doesn't show the Baltics as integrated parts of the USSR? --Soman (talk) 20:11, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/274804325719 - John Bartholomew and Son Ltd., 1949. I find this map super interesting, because it has most post-WWII border changes, but not any division of Germany. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania shown as part of USSR, at par with White Russia, Ukraine, Karelia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/274804325764 - Another John Bartholomew and Son Ltd. map, 1949, titled "USSR - Russia in Europe". Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania shown as part of USSR, at par with White Russia, Ukraine, Karelia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan. Kalinningrad shown as part of Lithuania.
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/402927528203 - Bartholomew, 1951, shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/384483797922 - National Geographic. 1949? Baltic SSRs shown as part of USSR, on same line as other SSRs
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/255500097745 - National Geographic. 1954, Baltics shown as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/284861299077 - circa 1950. Cartes Murales Rossignol Montmorillon. French school map, shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/284861314192 - circa 1950. La Maison des Instituteurs Saint-Germain-en-Laye. French school map. Shows Baltics as part of USSR.
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/264265806003 - Flemings Verlag Hamburg. Year unclear. German school map. The bottom right shows Baltics as part of USSR. Bottom middle, has the word "Litauen" but seemingly within USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/255693015441 - 1952? London Geographical Institute George Philip & Son Ltd. . Shows Baltics as part of USSR.
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/274093757002 - 1952? Can't see who printed it. Shows Baltics as part of USSR.
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/274093756936 - 1952? Railway map, can't see many of publishing company. Shows Baltics as part of USSR.
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/144674584691 - 1955 - The Times Atlas. Shows Baltics as part of USSR, at par with other SSRs. Another Times Atlas map (1956) - https://www.ebay.com/itm/185519759112 - with Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/254923910753 - 1961 - Sabena tourist map of Europe. Shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/304582099387 - 1961 German school map, shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/265832089609 - National Geographic 1963 - map of Scandinavia, shows Estonian SSR, Latvian SSR and Lithuanian SSR as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/324811067139 - Greek-language map of Europe. Shows Baltics as part of USSR. That said, appears that it's possible that the map distinguishes between Baltics and other parts of USSR. There is a thin black line, not 100% sure what it seeks to represent (can't see same for other SSRs)
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/224700657926 - 1971 map (??) of Esso. Shows 3 Baltics countries as separate countries, but appears to show pre 1938 border overall (??)
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/233289059367 - 1971 road map of Europe. Shows Baltics as part of USSR (but covers most of Baltics by an infobox)
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/203922098565 National Geographic 1977, shows 3 Baltic SSRs as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/304582099049 - German school map, 1981, shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * https://www.ebay.com/itm/294972252999 - German school map, 1984, shows Baltics as part of USSR
 * Because of Welles Declaration I think at least some US maps of the Soviet Union didn't include them, though my quick search for such maps was inconclusive. Other countries that diplomatically recognized the Soviet Union after the Baltic annexation ostensibly did so with Baltic states included. Brandmeistertalk  21:06, 29 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Soman -- In the 1980s, I saw physical paper maps issued by the U.S. government; they didn't show the Baltics as separate independent states, but there was special boundary line marking, and notes on the map that the U.S. didn't recognize Soviet annexation... AnonMoos (talk) 00:01, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, exactly, State Department maps have been referred in the discussions at times. So it would have looked like borders of Jammu-Kashmir or something similar. But it seems, from this very unscientific review, that this practice never reached outside of the government. It appears this practice was not implemented by commercial map makers in the US? --Soman (talk) 13:13, 30 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Maps arent't the only criteria regarding recognition. The three Baltic states maintained diplomatic representations in Washington, DC (and probably elsewhere) during the Cold War, and a number of Western countries had a standing policy that their ambassadors to the USSR would not travel to the three states in order not to give additional recognition to the annexation. The three were the first states whose independence from the USSR was recognized by Western countries after the failure of the August 1991 putsch in Moscow. When Canada did so on August 26, 1991, "External Affairs minister Barbara McDougall declared that Canada had never legally recognized the Soviet Union’s takeover of the Baltic countries after the Second World War, but had instead been waiting for them to reclaim their independence and “that day has come.” . Xuxl (talk) 14:46, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * See also Vincas Balickas, Lithuania's recognised chargé d'affaires in London from 1967 to 1993. Alansplodge (talk) 17:49, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm not implying that map-making is the sole criteria for diplomatic recognition, in fact it's a different issue. The point I'm trying to explore is if, in the Cold War era, if the diplomatic positioning of the U.S. government on the Baltic states had any wider cultural bearing in the Western world. The quote you bring up from Canada I think shows an attitude of certain opportunism, affirming the non-recognition of integration of Baltic SSRs in USSR in 1991. --Soman (talk) 18:41, 30 August 2022 (UTC)