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When Money Dies: The Nightmare Of The Weimar Hyper Inflation (2000)

by Adam Fergusson(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1906964440 (ISBN13: 9781906964443)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

review 1: Interesting survey of the post-WWI hyperinflation in Germany and to a lesser extent, the inflation in Austria and Hungary. Until I was halfway through, I didn't know about the recent resurgence of interest in the book. (I discovered it through a reference elsewhere.) Despite the publisher's blurb about "quantitative easing" on the back of the book, and the author's Conservative credentials, I think anyone reading this as a cautionary tale about modern monetary policy may leave disappointed. As it was published in Britain taking place in 1975, it may well be viewed as a warning about the inflation then taking place. Read it for what it is--a sobering story of what happens not just to a country and industry but to ordinary people when currency ceases to have value and citize... morens no longer have faith that it will be worth anything.
review 2: This is a bottom up history of the period from the end of WW I to the end of the hyperinflationary period, which came to a pretty sudden halt at the end of 1923. It's not really much of a cautionary tale, since the circumstances which led to hyperinflation in Germany, Austria and Hungary are not likely to visit the West again. But the political decisions to avoid doing anything to stop the inflation were interesting, as the inflation was tied to continuing, albeit artificial, full employment in Germany, and the longer they waited to curb it, the worse the resulting unemployment became. The political instability caused by inflation, as well as the Ruhr valley occupation was interesting. All of these events were described at the level of the average German, who struggled with malnutrition for example, as the farmers were unwilling to accept Reichsmarks for their bountiful harvests. less

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