Customer Reviews

Fiat Money Inflation in France (Cato paper ; no. 11)

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A clear presentation of a governments desparate move using cheap inflated paper money to pay off old debts and its effects on france around 1790. This is not a dynamic novel, but mind bombs go off as the author hits the chain of events that occurred when money is inflated, and is backed only by only a promise to pay the debt it represents. The French find themselves mired in a cycle of ever increasing difficulty to pay that debt off. Although it is not a novel and at times a bit dry, you will definitely be talking to your friends and family about what this author has to say and comparing it to what you see happening now.

Short book by college history professor can be read in one sitting. Easy to read, holds your attention throughout. Reveals effects of inflation. Even though it is a tale of history 200 years ago, as it goes along, the parallels with present day inflation in the United States are striking. It describes how individuals in the various professions fare under runaway inflation and it reveals which profession fared best, but I won't spoil the book for you by telling you now. Useful info.

The book is about the financial trouble that fiat (e.g.,paper) money created in France during the revolutionary years. It also states clearly that the people didn't learn enough from a lesson they had 70 years early.

If you read this historical account you will very often wonder: 'Hey sounds familiar to me...'. Too bad - or?

Fiat Money Inflation in France is as much about irrational human behavior as it is about financial crises and runaway inflation. White describes a dissillusioned public who, under the influence of increasingly self-serving public officials and orators, accepted more and more assignant printings even though the perils of such printings had been documented throughout history and were then blatantly obvious right before there eyes.

White presented this analysis of the runaway inflation in France to dissuade the US Government of printing its own paper money. He was successful.

A book worth reading.

This little book tells the epic tale of France's experiment with "irredeemable" currency (paper money which could not be redeemed for specie; gold or silver, i.e. "cash") from 1789-1796, and its devastating impact, particularly on the working class and those sent to the guillotine for violating various and sundry laws.

It should be required reading for every American, particularly congressmen and senators, for, although it was written almost one hundred years ago, the lessons it teaches are as applicable today as they have been all throughout man's history. It is obviously far too late for most nations to return to the gold standard, but this book also reveals the dangers inherent in a constantly and unlimited expansion of a nation's money supply. "Knowledge of the past," as Winston Churchill observed, "is the only foundation we have from which to peer into and measure the future." If so, the nations of the world ignore these lessons at their own peril, and so do their citizens.

So, if you'd like to know what might be down the road apiece, hopefully a very far piece, this is a good place to start. And, even if you don't make the connection, it certainly is an interesting story.

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.

At least, that has been my experience. A number of conservative Americans hand this book out like popcorn, I'm not quite sure why. Surely the inflation in Weimar Germany was every bit as bad, and also more recent. In fact, there is a good book waiting to be written on "Devastating Inflations Around the World." But -- somehow -- this little book on Fiat Money in France is clasped to the chests of many conservatives.

Since the book is, in effect, an argument for the gold standard, I must say that I would find it much more interesting if it forthrightly argued the merits and demerits of the gold standard, rather than simply telling the tale of monetary collapse in revolutionary France. I suspect that the gold standard is not a very good idea, since -- to the best of my knowledge -- no country in the world supports it. The general argument is simple: gold is simply a commodity, like cotton, oil, or oats. Why should we tie the nation's currency to something like one single commodity? If huge gold reserves are discovered in Lower Slobovia, should THAT have any impact at all on the U.S. dollar, or the British pound, or any currency at all?

The obvious answer is NO. And the prevailing situation worldwide is that all countries issue "FIAT MONEY." The currency is not tied to any particular commodity, but to a market basket of all the goods and services produced by that country. If you have ten thousand U.S. dollars, you can buy quite a chunk of American goods and services -- including gold, if you're in the mood for some dead "store of value."

That's the key issue: all these "fiat" currencies are instantly convertible into gold, or silver, or rubies, or kilowatts. They just are not TIED to the value of any particular commodity.

The system works fine. You just have to watch out for idiots like Jimmy Carter, who come to high office with no knowledge whatsoever, and proceed to increase the money supply until inflation reaches 13% and interest rates hit 20%.