Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #822

Text 1 Proponents of the classical gold standard often point to the period between 1870 and 1914 as a golden age of international economic stability. By pegging their currencies to a fixed quantity of gold, participating nations virtually eliminated exchange rate volatility. This predictability drastically reduced the risk associated with cross-border trade, fostering an unprecedented surge in global commercial integration and cross-border investment. Text 2 The supposed "stability" of the classical gold standard was largely an illusion experienced only by global financial elites. Because exchange rates were strictly fixed, nations facing trade deficits could not devalue their currencies to remain competitive. Instead, they were forced to endure severe internal deflation—slashing wages, raising interest rates, and tolerating massive unemployment to stop gold from flowing out of the country. International trade may have flowed smoothly, but domestic economies were repeatedly thrown into violent, grinding recessions. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the assertion in Text 1 that the gold standard created "economic stability"?