The outbreak of the Great War effectively terminated the first phase of Fisher’s crusade to put price level stabilization high on the agenda of international discussion. After August 1914, it was obvious that little purpose would be served by continuing to campaign for an International Commission to inquire into the high cost of living. The concerns which had inspired him to devise remedies for fluctuating price levels certainly had not vanished. On the contrary, the central problems survived in forms that made it all the more urgent that they be given thoughtful consideration. America’s entry into the war in 1917 added force to inflationary pressures on the domestic scene. In addition, the status of the United States as a belligerent meant that the nation had still weightier obligations to shape a post-war international economic order that would promote peace and prosperity.
