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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | In what is sure to become the standard account, Rothbard traces inflations, banking panics, and money meltdowns from the Colonial Period through the mid-20th century to show how government's systematic war on sound money is the hidden force behind nearly all major economic calamities in American history. Never has the story of money and banking been told with such rhetorical power and theoretical vigor. You will treasure this volume. From the introduction by Joseph Salerno: "Rothbard employs the Misesian approach to economic history consistently and dazzlingly throughout the volume to unravel the causes and consequences of events and institutions ranging over the course of U.S. monetary history, from the colonial times through the New Deal era. One of the important benefits of Rothbard's unique approach is that it naturally leads to an account of the development of the U.S. monetary system in terms of a compelling narrative linking human motives and plans that often-times are hidden, and devious, leading to outcomes that sometimes are tragic. And one will learn much more about monetary history from reading this exciting story than from poring over reams of statistical analysis. Although its five parts were written separately, this volume presents a relative integrated narrative, with very little overlap, that sweeps across three hundreds years of U.S. monetary history." | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Murray N. Rothbard | | Hardcover: | 510 pages | | Publisher: | Ludwig Von Mises Inst | | Publication Date: | August 30, 2002 | | ISBN: | 0945466331 | | Package Length: | 9.0 inches | | Package Width: | 5.4 inches | | Package Height: | 1.4 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.85 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 11 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The Conspiracy Theory on How We Got the Federal Reserve Jul 01, 2010
I had high hopes when I bought this, thinking it would be a history of US banking. That was a disappointment. There is some history, though the main story seems to be the lead up to the Federal Reserve. Even some of the political background was OK. However, as you get to the turn of the century, Rothbard steers into conspiracy thinking regarding the business actors behind creating the central bank.
I am not fan of central banking either. I would rather not have the Federal Reserve. But this book doesn't live up to the title as a history. It reads like a polemic. And it doesn't go much beyond the creation of the Fed.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Exellent Read Mar 19, 2010
I have no experience in the world of banking and finance and greatly enjoyed this book. There is no jargon and it is easy to read and understand. The emphasis is on what interests caused what events to occur and there is no data or statistics to wade through. I feel like I have a much better understanding (though quite general) of where to look next as far as figuring out more about why we have the system that we have today. I highly recommend this book. Also, this book is published by the Mises Institute, which as a great website, lots of free material as well as other books on the subject.
4 of 20 found the following review helpful:
History with an agenda Jan 15, 2010
This book is to history what Fox news is to reporting. While Rothbard does not purport to present a "fair and balanced" historical account, the innocent sounding title masks what is in reality standard libertarian distrust of government and reverence of free market principles. Especially in light of recent events, the policies that Rothbard is indirectly arguing for, complete governmental abstention in the economy, seem immature and dangerous. And on the issue of the gold-standard, a venerable holy grail of the Austrian school, I am still not convinced of its' merits. Why should growth in our money supply be held hostage to output of world mines? How is that better then fiat money? As many economists have recognized, a country's recovery from the great depression coincided with their decision to abandon the gold standard. Does it mean anything that no countries today follow a gold standard? There must have been a reason that the gold standard argument has consistently lost - perhaps it is just bad policy. Notwithstanding all that, this book, as pimped by the other reviews, still has plenty of plusses. But while this book is good, an unequivocal five stars it is not.
PS. A much better, and somewhat less partisan version of banking and history of monetary policy, is "Monetary Policy in the United States" by Timberlake. But I would recommend starting with a more balanced, more accessible and more comprehensive review of monetary policy such as "Money, Banking and Monetary Policy" by Kreps.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Understand the Great Depression Dec 13, 2009
You won't find this analysis in your local paper. You'll rarely find it even on C-SPAN. Rothbard shows how the increase in credit by both Hoover and FDR was the wrong thing to do then, and the wrong thing to do now. Government spending does not bring us out of depressions. Instead it causes them.
Because the American people didn't understand the 30's, they can't understand today's economic tragedy either. A stable money supply is the friend of real recovery. Instead we are getting a dollar worth 10 cents of what it was.
We are being hoodwinked by spellbinders.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
the introduction alone is worth the price of the book Nov 30, 2009
For someone who has wasted a lifetime trying to understand economics, money, credit and banking, this book clarifies a good deal. If you suspect Larry Summers and Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and others of their ilk talk mostly nonsense, are at best not be trusted and at worst conspirators in a grand scam to preserve the power of their corporate masters, Murry Rothbard would not only agree with you completely but could probably explain in a couple of paragraphs exactly what is going on every time any of them opens his mouth. Unfortunately, Murry is no longer with us. We have to do the best we can with the method he championed for fifty odd years: ignore what they say and consider who stands to benefit from what they are doing and proposing, and how. What I cannot understand after reading this book, is how or why Rothbard ever got himself involved with Richard Nixon? But don't let that stop you from reading the book.
Is Rothbard right about the need for a gold standard? There isn't enough gold to support the unrepayable and largely unserviceable public debt balloon our Wall Street masters of the universe and their academic and bureaucratic apologists have been inflating over the past ninety-six years, and doubling over the past twelve months. Only truly heroic inflation can now bail out the State, and it's hard to see how the inflationists can now make the bubble inflate fast enough to prevent a gigantic bust. History suggests that a real collapse may be coming, one in which the bankers will remain standing because their toxic waste has all been absorbed by the friendly taxpayer. Other major players may end up more like GM than GE.
Meanwhile, as I await the bust, this book of Murray's is lively reading and food for thought. You really can't ask more from any book.
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