The Wizard of Oz’s Greenback Conspiracy
Many of the fantastical elements of The Wizard of Oz were drawn directly from the monetary debates of the 1890s.
![](https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/07102817/c-oz.jpg)
Beginning in the late 1860s, the United States experienced one of the longest periods of deflation in its history, a trend that reached its nadir with the Panic of 1893, which triggered a four-year depression. Unemployment peaked at 20 percent, with industrial areas particularly hard-hit, while in rural regions, farmers suffered from price declines. Long-standing […]