Fiat Money Inflation in France

BEST. Good binding, font size and print quality.

Want to read history repeating itself? Read this book. Written in 1912. The post French Revolution was a very interesting era that few Americans will ever hear about even though they are re-living it. Short (less than 90 pages), concise and unfortunately very familiar. Some very profound observations on fiat money and why they inevitably fail. Of course, one of the few differences between now and then is today we have social media, back then they had guillotines

As noted by other reviewers this book is about the substantive inflation in France during the 1790s. Putting it simply the French politicians inflated the currency supply by issuing paper, theoretically backed by lands seized from the Catholic church and the fleeing aristocracy, to be used in lieu of gold and silver. At first this had a positive effect on the economy but it rapidly deteriorated to requiring ever increasing amounts of printed currency to maintain momentum. As they printed more currency the value fell, people hoarded gold and the government enacted draconian measures, including the death penalty, to force people to accept the printed currency at par. Ultimately it all crashed and the printed currency was wiped out. This material is essentially a lecture originally given by the author, Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918) in 1876 and updated in 1914 prior to his death. It has had a long life inasmuch as "goldbugs" love the example of the debasement of currency while gold retains value. Today it has experienced renewed interest as the US government aggressively floods the markets with currency to offset the housing crash/recession. So this maintains historical and current interest even though there are many other examples of currency inflation (i.e. Weimar Germany). The book has limitations since it is really a lecture, rather than a "book" per se, and the age of the writing. As a lecture it would be an interesting overview and object lesson in two or three hours. However there are a large number of points which simply can not be explored in detail in a lecture and could only be developed in a full length book (i.e. France attempted to index link loans to the falling currency value). The writing, while clear, struck me as containing elements of florid lecture oratory. In all an interested historical artifact exploring an interesting historical event.

This goes beyond the cost of goods and into how inflation depreciated society, business, etc. Eye opening and an excellent lesson on the inherent dangers of fiat moneys.

great read

A good if difficult to grasp outline of what happened in France many centuries ago. Seems like history is repeating itself over and over.

Excelent topic, fast delivery. Thank you!

White was an amazing man and he always spoke honestly and authoritatively. This slightly-over 70 page book holds the truth of the folly of unlimited fiat money, generally but specifically in France between the Revolution and Napoleon. You will finish it in a day, and then you can get "A History of the Warfare of Science and Theology in Christendom" and really learn a lot - while having fun.

A well written book about post-French revolution inflationary period. Amazing how people can never learn from history and governments around the world in 20. and 21. century did and do the same mistakes with their foolish policies again and expecting different results. Anybody who doesn't believe in gold standard and believe in Bernanke's policies should read this!

Well researched, well written. A must for any doubter of fiat currency.

For sure we should learn this at elementary school and make comparisons with wars and poverty based on pinting money

Good quality. Great read for investor.

Finest book on experiment with paper money. It's a great lesson, so very well compiled with understanding and logical presentation.