When money dies
by Adam Fergusson · first published 1975
13mentions
8recommended by
13HN commenters
2011–2025first – last mentioned
62% recommend38% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Widely cited account of Weimar Germany's hyperinflation, using old economic statistics alongside German citizens' journals and newspapers to show how inflation unfolded and hit ordinary savers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This book is about the collapse of the Weimar Republic in Germany shortly after WW 1, which was prefaced by a period of deflation. The collapse was distinguished by a period of severe hyperinflation that rendered the German currency worthless.
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…UK cities may be the result of austerity and what happened in Greece recently certainly is. However, the alternative (inflation) would have the same effect. See 1920's Germany/Austria for example - 'When Money Dies' by Adam Fergusson is the book on this.
on “Austerity leads to political unrest” ↗Highly recommend the book “When Money Dies” about hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. It digs into how the inflation grew and its effects on real people. Those who illegally transferred their savings to foreign currency early did the best,…
on “Best performing assets against inflation” ↗Might I suggest: "When Money Dies" ? The classic history of what happens when a nation’s currency depreciates beyond recovery. http://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Dies-Devaluation-Hyperinfla...
on “Why a Free Society Needs a Free Money” ↗I recommend the book by Andrew Fergusson called "When Money Dies" which is about the period of hyperinflation in Weimar Germany. Note that I do not claim to know 100% that this will happen in the USA . It was written in the late 1970s I believe so is not geared to…
on “How this Ends” ↗Read When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson. This is the worst thing that can happen. Having lived through hyperinflation, I do believe that printing trillions (+40% last 12 months, +75% since '09 crisis) has negative consequences.…
A great book on this subject but I didn't see cited in the article is "When Money Dies": https://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Dies-Devaluation-Hyperinfl... Uses a mix of old economic stats paired with German citizens journals and public newspapers to tell the story of how hyperinflation in…
on “Hyperinflation Heralded the Fall of German Democracy (2023)” ↗…together down payments for a home or find a minivan for their growing family. It’s a real problem, and if you want to see what a world where it doesn’t get fixed quickly looks like, go read the book “When Money Dies.” Pretending it doesn’t exist won’t fix it either.
on “U.S. interest rates have soared everywhere but savings accounts” ↗…could replace Bitcoin with USD and say the same thing. Any currency has value because those in power insist on taxes being paid in that currency, otherwise it is just what people believe it to be. Read "When Money Dies", excellent book about how a government can ruin the trust that is the basis of fiat.
on “Nassim Taleb says Bitcoin is an open Ponzi scheme and a failed currency” ↗On avoiding hyperinflation, it's certainly true that we know how to do it. For the infamous Weimar hyperinflation, I'd refer you to Adam Fergusson's When Money Dies; what drove the hyperinflation was two things, that the government was unwilling to control its spending (it risked France annexing the Saarland), and that the head of the national bank was poorly educated.…
on “LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft” ↗…stocks flatlined relative to the currency[1]. [1] - Haven't read it but sources that claim this point to this book (I just bought it though, it's only $3): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8567383-when-money-dies
on “Making sense of what’s going on in the housing market” ↗When Money Dies is on my to-read list, but haven't gotten to it yet. However, there's some interesting stuff available that may be of interest in this matter: > Weimar is often mentioned as if it were the only case…
on “Best performing assets against inflation” ↗…propaganda. Her father began to speak against the Jews more and more, asserting now that 'creative capital is the capital we Germans have: parasitical capital is the capital of the Jews.” FERGUSSON, Adam - When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany (1975)
on “Apple becomes first U.S. company to reach a $2T market cap” ↗A summary of lessons from Adam Fergusson's book When Money Dies.