The Theory of Money and Credit

This book was written in 1912 by one of the foremost thinkers of the Austrian School of Economics.It opens with a customer in the shop of a merchant and after choosing items from the stock in trade buys what he wants and gets his change.What is alluded to here is money.Little round metal disks and "documents,"ie currency.This is around the turn of the twentieth century and he's referring to something that we are still concerned with to this very day.Chances are that the merchant and his customer is not using money,as he sees it;but money substitutes, ie fiduciary media which may or may not include fiat money-you have to use it because it's legal tender.This is the medium of exchange in the course of commerce.Of course,von Mises goes deeper than what we're used to on this subject.He divides this book into four parts:1.The Nature of Money,2.The Value of Money,3.Money and Banking,and 4.Monetary Reconstruction.Von Mises is a realist.He doesn't get into how he would prefer it to be until Part 4.He gives a legal foundation to the Austrian School with historical empiricism from ancient times to periodic memory of The Peel Act of 1844.The Austrians used The Subjective Theory of Value.He was not without critics though.He considered "a sound doctrine could win only by exploding the delusions of it's adversaries."The one short-coming of this book was that he followed Bohm-Bawerk's ideas on money,credit,and interest as he thought his ideas on the subject weren't as advanced as Bohm-Bawerk.I hope he is more comfortable about the subject by the time he writes Human Action(fifty-six years after Bohm-Bawerk).He understand's that a Central Bank might increase money supply and that this might be inflationary.He believes that a Central Bank should be charged with determining the demand for money.This cannot be understated.As demand goes up,the inflationary impact might have an inverse relationship on the value of money.He also treats the subject of Central Banks above the national level.This would include the IMF,World Bank,ECB,BIS,etc.I imagine he would wish them well.

I am 2/3 way into this book. And I can tell anyone that this is the best book that has ever been written on economics. It is absolutely fabulous. I do find the book not to be a beginners guide to economics. It is somewhat advance. It takes some level of economic logic thinking to follow the chain of logic as they go through the relationships between mani and Credit both in the private and public sector, Domestic and international.Added after finish reading:This book is without a doubt, and without any argument is the best book that was ever written on economics. The book is a little bit technical and is not for the beginner in economic theories. If you were an intermediary or advanced in economic theories this book is absolutely fabulous for you.

I’d expect nothing else from Von Mises. This is well written, logical, and still applicable to today. Even if you disagree with his economic perspectives and worldview, this book can still provide some value to you. A great read that will get you thinking.

The book is lengthy,The chapters are many but the chapters have delineated sub topics.This aids the reader when looking for specific information.

Good book. Read it, a couple times if you have to

This is a great book with a lot of thought provoking information. I will take some time to digest, but it is a good book.

In 1912, I repeat, in 1912, he revealed himself as the best economist in the world. This book is too great to summarize in a review, but he irrefutably explained the origin of money, laid the foundation for what would later be called the Austrian business cycle, and much more. Nobody can call themselves an economist if they haven't studied Mises.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1098020227/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The book is very interesting and good knowledge to understand the utility and the use of money

Mises makes no concessions to the ordinary reader, for the amateur economist the going is heavy indeed. It is now quite old, and economic ideas do change, but the fundamentals last even if argued about, and professional economists will want to have read it. For the amateur, start with "Money" by Galbraith, not here.

The font is very unoriginal and the binding is of very poor quality, I wonder why the MRP is so high. It's not at all worth the price I've paid.Go for other versions. Such great a book must have a good cover. Looks like it was printed from an in-house printer.

Excellent treatment of fiduciary aspects to banking and credit markets.

Já vou logo adiantando que como todo livro do Mises, esse também tem uma linguagem dificil, tirando isso, o livro é muito esclarecedor e didático.

Very informative.