The sliver of truth in this view is that the deep recessions in Mexico (1995), Thailand
(1997), Korea (1997), and Russia (1998), indeed tended to follow closely after devaluations of
the exchange rate. On the other hand, Argentina (1995) and Hong Kong (1998) suffered severe
recessions despite their being on a currency board system. At the same time, there are many countries that devalued their currencies without suffering a sharp crisis. Chile and India are two
recent examples among developing countries, and Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are
important examples among resource-rich developed countries that experienced terms of trade
declines in 1998. Thus, on the one hand, the currency board system did not save countries from
deep economic contraction, while on the other hand, many countries carried out devaluations or
allowed their currencies to depreciate without incurring financial panic.