This book provides the intelligent layperson with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the theory, history, and practice of money and banking, with a focus on the United States. Although the author considers himself an Austrian school economist, most of the material in this book is a neutral presentation of historical facts and an objective description of the mechanics of money creation in today’s world.
The book is intended to be a reference for all readers, whether “Austrian” or not, and to bridge the gap by providing a crash course in the necessary theory and history while keeping the discussion tethered to current events.
— From the Introduction
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Robert P. Murphy is a Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute. He is the author of numerous books: Contra Krugman: Smashing the Errors of America’s Most Famous Keynesian; Chaos Theory; Lessons for the Young Economist; Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action; The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism; Understanding Bitcoin (with Silas Barta), among others. He is also host of The Human Action Podcast and The Bob Murphy Show.
The Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) crowd prides itself on fidelity to actual history. But Murphy shows how leading MMT guru Randall Wray completely distorts his discussion of two historical episodes in his college lecture.
Bob challenges the conventional wisdom around Triffin’s dilemma, arguing that persistent U.S. trade deficits aren’t necessary for dollar dominance—and that Ron Paul had it right all along.
Jonathan Newman joins Bob to explore the archaeological evidence for silver as money in ancient Mesopotamia, challenging Modern Monetary Theory and affirming Menger’s classic account of money’s market origins.
Robert P. Murphy
Published 2021 by the Mises Institute.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Mises Institute
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ISBN: 978-1-61016-740-6
