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A FINANCIAL TIMES'BOOK TO READ IN 2023'“Everything you wanted to know about inflation but were afraid to ask.”—Mervyn King'King's lessons command our attention.”—Lawrence H. Summers'Maybe you don't think inflation is back for good. That is your right. But you'd be advised to read this book first.”—Stephanie Flanders From investors and monetary authorities to governments and policy makers, almost everyone had assumed inflation was dead and buried. But now people the world over are confronting a poisonous new economic reality and, with it, the prospect of vast and increasing wealth inequality. How have we arrived in this situation? And what, if anything, can we do about it? Celebrated economist Stephen D. King—one of the few to warn ahead of time about the latest inflationary upheaval—identifies key lessons from the history of inflation that policy makers chose not to heed. From ancient Rome through the American Civil War and up to the asset bubbles of today, inflation stems from policy error, sovereign greed, and a collective loss of faith in currencies. We Need to Talk About Inflation cuts through centuries of bad judgment and misunderstanding, offering a means to intervene now—so we can begin to tackle the political and social upheaval unleashed by inflation.

Inflation, hyperinflation and deflation have all had profound effects on societies, especially during periods of war and crisis. Today's approach to managing inflation has been shaped by these episodes and informed by debates between different schools of economic thought from Fisher and Hayek to Keynes and the monetarists. This accessible and authoritative overview explores the role of inflation in the modern economy, from its place in monetary policy and in money supply to its effects on everyday business. In a compelling analysis, the book shows that since the financial crisis in 2008–09, inflation rates have remained persistently higher than interest rates worldwide, which is the inverse of our basic understanding of how inflation normally affects markets. The result of this inversion has been that the effective real return on investment has become negative, and consequently, the investment rate has dropped across western economies. At a time when inflation once again challenges the world's leading economies, the book offers valuable insight into the monetary policy of central banks.

Steve Forbes, Nathan Lewis, and Elizabeth Ames reveal what is behind the inflationary storm that is wreaking havoc on American pocketbooks.Inflation: What It Is, Why It's Bad, and How to Fix It explains what's behind the worst inflationary storm in more than forty years—one that is dominating the headlines and shaking Americans by their pocketbooks. The cost-of-living explosion since the COVID pandemic has raised alarms about a possible return of a 1970's-style “Great Inflation.” Some observers even fear a descent into the kind of Weimar-style hyperinflation that has torn apart so many nations. Is this true? If so, what should be done? How should we prepare for the future?Inflation answers these and other questions in an engaging discussion that draws on the singular expertise of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media, acclaimed for his insights on money and the economy; Nathan Lewis, internationally renowned expert on money and taxation; and author and journalist Elizabeth Ames.The authors say that today's problems can be solved by discarding longstanding beliefs that helped bring on the current crisis. They include the notion that central banks can create prosperity through artificially creating money “out of thin air,” and also that economic “stability” requires “a little inflation.” Such ideas for decades have been Holy Writ in official Washington. Inflation shows why they are misguided. The book also explains why the current rage for heedless money-printing advocated by left-wing advocates of so-called Modern Monetary Theory is likely to lead the nation—and the world—down the road to disaster.Packed with examples from the headlines and from history Inflation is a unique, real-world exploration of the subject that addresses everyday concerns of Americans under siege by rising prices, including steps you should take to protect your wealth.Inflation is essential reading for everyone seeking to navigate these tumultuous times.

This book challenges the conventional view that monetarism is a necessary part of classical economics and shows, in an historical account of monetary controversy, that the framework upon which classical analysis is based suggests an alternative account of the inflationary process. A corollary of the argument is that the monetarist approach is a logically necessary component of neoclassical analysis and that any attempt to criticise that approach in a fundamental way must involve an explicit rejection of the conceptual structure of neoclassical economics.

Using highly-readable, non-technical language, the authors, both professional economists, describe all the major global economic forces at work in the 1970s and forecast the kind of future which such forces are creating (and which has indeed been the case). Inflation and recession, an energy crisis, international monetary disorder and a food crisis in the developing world are all discussed.

Why we need to heed the lessons of high inflationToday's global economy, with most developed nations experiencing very low inflation, seems a world apart from the'Great Inflation'that spanned the late 1960s to early 1980s. Yet, in this book, Brigitte Granville makes the case that monetary economists and policymakers need to keep the lessons learned during that period very much in mind, lest we return to them by making the same mistakes we made in the past.Granville details the advances in macroeconomic thinking that gave rise to the'Great Moderation'—a period of stable inflation and economic growth, which lasted from the mid-1980s through the most recent financial crisis. She makes the case that the central banks'management of monetary policy—hinging on expectations and credibility—brought about this period of stability, and traces the roots of this success back to the eighteenth-century foundations of modern monetary thought.Tackling fundamental questions such as the causes of inflation and its relation to unemployment and growth, the natural rate of inflation hypothesis, the fiscal theory of the price level, and the proper goals of central banks, the book aims above all to demonstrate the dangers of forgetting the role of credibility in establishing sound monetary policy. With the lessons of the past firmly in mind, Granville presents stimulating ideas and proposals about inflation-targeting principles, which provide tools for present-day monetary authorities dealing with the forces of globalization, mercantilism, and reserve accumulation.

This reissue of the authoritative Royal Economic Society edition of Essays in Persuasion features a new introduction by Donald Moggridge, which discusses the significance of this definitive work. The essays in this volume show Keynes'attempts to influence the course of events by public persuasion over the period of 1919-40.

How should governments and central banks use monetary policy to create a healthy economy? Traditionally, policymakers have used such strategies as controlling the growth of the money supply or pegging the exchange rate to a stable currency. In recent years a promising new approach has emerged: publicly announcing and pursuing specific targets for the rate of inflation. This book is the first in-depth study of inflation targeting. Combining penetrating theoretical analysis with detailed empirical studies of countries where inflation targeting has been adopted, the authors show that the strategy has clear advantages over traditional policies. They argue that the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank should adopt this strategy, and they make specific proposals for doing so. The book begins by explaining the unique features and advantages of inflation targeting. The authors argue that the simplicity and openness of inflation targeting make it far easier for the public to understand the intent and effects of monetary policy. This strategy also increases policymakers'accountability for inflation performance and can accommodate flexible, even'discretionary,'monetary policy actions without sacrificing central banks'credibility. The authors examine how well variants of this approach have worked in nine countries: Germany and Switzerland (which employ a money-focused form of inflation targeting), New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Spain, and Australia. They show that these countries have typically seen lower inflation, lower inflation expectations, and lower nominal interest rates, and have found that one-time shocks to the price level have less of a'pass-through'effect on inflation. These effects, in turn, are improving the climate for economic growth. The authors warn, however, that the success of inflation targeting depends on operational details, such as how the targets are defined and when they are announced. They also show that inflation targeting is not a panacea that can make inflation perfectly predictable or reduce it without economic costs. Clear, balanced, and authoritative, Inflation Targeting is a groundbreaking study that will have a major impact on the debate over the right monetary strategy for the coming decades. As a unique comparative study of what central banks actually do in different countries around the world, this book will also be invaluable to anyone interested in how economic policy is made.