What Has Government Done to Our Money?
by Murray N. Rothbard · first published 1990
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Short, accessible Austrian-school primer on what money is, inflation, central banks, banking and the business cycle, building from first principles. Suits newcomers to monetary theory; it is freely available online.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Only one simple question. Did you read Rothbard's "What has government done to our money?" If not, do so, and come back to tell us how your mind changed, for good or bad.
on “Bizarre Shadowy Paper-Based Payment System Being Rolled Out Worldwide” ↗…maintain rough parity with the total amount of goods and services available to be exchanged in those transactions, then the imbalance will lead to wild price fluctuations. I strongly recommend reading "What Has Government Done to Our Money?" by Murray N. Rothbard (http://mises.org/money.asp). It's short---easily read in one sitting. It's also lucid---easily understood in one sitting. You are clearly smart enough to get it, and you obviously…
on “A global fiasco brewing in Japan. (Will the US follow?)” ↗I love that book. Another good, "popular" Austrian-school book is What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray Rothbard. The Theory of Money and Credit by Mises is on same subject but it's more comprehensive, the tone is more academic and is considerably harder. Both are available online. http://mises.org/money.asp http://mises.org/books/Theory_Money_Credit/Contents.aspx
on “Ask HN: Best book(s) to learn about the basics of economics?” ↗"What has government done to our money" by Murray Rothbard It's available free in pdf and audio from mises.org. http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie...
on “Ask HN: Any good books on money?” ↗I second this recommendation. After reading this book, I suggest "What has government done to our money?" by Murray Rothbard to understand the monetary problems in more depth. Edit: Here are free pdf's for these 2 books: 1) http://www.fee.org/pdf/books/Economics_in_one_lesson.pdf 2) http://mises.org/books/whathasgovernmentdone.pdf
on “Ask HN: what are some good resources to understand economics?” ↗…reason not to give dilution the benefit of the doubt. Regarding the so-called "gold standard", the historical evidence is not nearly as clear-cut as you've been led to believe. Though flawed in many ways, What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray Rothbard is a good place to start: http://mises.org/money.asp
on “Bizarre Shadowy Paper-Based Payment System Being Rolled Out Worldwide” ↗…some advantages. I don't think your analysis is correct much at all. Perhaps you are genuinely not aware that these crises were the result of government intervention. I suggest you to read Rothbard's What Has Government Done to Our Money here: http://mises.org/money.asp
on “Marc Andreessen on big data, Bitcoin and upending the world of finance” ↗- Anatomy of the State by Murray Rothbard - What has government done to our money? by Murray Rothbard - For a New Liberty by Murray Rothbard - The Law by Frederick Bastiat The world is a rotten place thanks to politicians, and at the same time the world is a beautiful place in spite…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗What has Government Done to Our Money - Murray Rothbard. Read it and you will understand money better than 99.9% of the population, including most economists.
on “Resources to understand deeply how money works?” ↗nail on head. he should read Murray Rothbard's paper, "What Has Government Done to Our Money?" http://mises.org/money.asp
on “How to Drop Out” ↗For understanding money, you might try reading Murray Rothbard's "What has government done to our money?", available for free in both written and audio at mises.org.
on “Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal, Department by Department (Infographic)” ↗…[1] www.voluntaryistpunk.com/ebooks/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf [2] http://mises.org/store/Libertarianism-Today-P10394.aspx Edit: You talked about money in a free market. For that topic I recommend "What has government done to our money?" by Murray Rothbard. [3] [3] mises.org/books/whathasgovernmentdone.pdf
on “How IKEA is structured to minimize tax and maximize control” ↗You might want to read Rothbard's What Has Government Done to Our Money. It's available free both in pdf and mp3 at mises.org. The tl;dr reply to the arguments in podcast 3 (banks fail if forced to redeem paper for gold) is that fractional reserve banking is incompatible…
on “Online Cash Bitcoin could Challenge Governments, Banks” ↗"What Has Government Done to Our Money?" by Rothbard https://mises.org/library/what-has-government-done-our-money
…treatise on economics in the 20th century, perhaps ever: “Man, Economy & State” by Murray N. Rothbard. https://mises.org/library/man-economy-and-state-power-and-ma... Another is Rothbard’s little book, “What Has Government Done to Our Money?” which provides a wonderfully accessible introduction to the theory and history of money. https://mises.org/library/what-has-government-done-our-money
on “Books to Understand Economics” ↗