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The cover of Money Mischief

Money Mischief

Milton Friedman

How can seemingly trivial changes in monetary institutions have large, unexpected effects on a nation's politics and economy?

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At a glance

Author
Milton Friedman

Why read it

  • You will see how omitting one line from a coinage law shaped American politics and the economy for decades
  • You will understand the quantity equation and the basic ideas of money supply and demand, as a base for reading monetary history
  • You will learn the author's view that inflation is a monetary phenomenon, and that a few simple truths hold most of what we know

Who it is for

  • A general reader curious about the gold standard debates
  • A student of monetary policy who likes economic history
  • Someone wary of leaving money policy to central bankers alone

Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Chapter 1
  3. The Island of Stone Money
  4. Chapter 2
  5. The Mystery of Money
  6. The Supply of Money
  7. The Demand for Money
  8. Reconciling Supply and Demand
  9. The Famous Quantity Equation of Money
  10. Changes in the Quantity of Money
  11. Changes in the Demand for Money
  12. Conclusion
  13. Chapter 3
  14. The Crime of 1873
  15. The Background
  16. Was There a “Crime”?
  17. The Consequences of the Coinage Act of 1873
  18. Which Would Have Been Better: Silver or Gold?
  19. Chapter 4
  20. A Counterfactual Exercise: Estimating the Effect of Continuing Bimetallism after 1873
  21. Chapter 5
  22. William Jennings Bryan and the Cyanide Process
  23. Bryan’s Nomination and Subsequent Political Career
  24. The Triumph of the Gold Standard
  25. Deflation and the Cyanide Process
  26. Deflation and the Silver Movement
  27. Was 16 to I a Crackpot Idea?
  28. The Cyanide Process and Bryan’s Political Decline
  29. Conclusion
  30. Chapter 6
  31. Bimetallism Revisited
  32. Historical Experience
  33. The Scholarly Literature on Bimetallism
  34. Proponents and Opponents of Bimetallism
  35. Views about Actual Bimetallic Proposals
  36. Gold versus Silver Monometallism
  37. Conclusion
  38. Chapter 7
  39. FDR, Silver, and China
  40. The Pressure for Silver
  41. New Deal Action for Silver
  42. Domestic Effects
  43. Effects on Other Countries
  44. The Effect on China
  45. The Chinese Hyperinflation
  46. Conclusion
  47. Appendix to Chapter 7
  48. Chapter 8
  49. The Cause and Cure of Inflation
  50. The Proximate Cause of Inflation
  51. Why the Excessive Monetary Growth?
  52. Government Revenue from Inflation
  53. The Cure for Inflation
  54. Side Effects of a Cure
  55. Mitigating the Side Effects
  56. Institutional Reform to Promote Price Stability
  57. A Case Study
  58. Conclusions
  59. Chapter 9
  60. Chile and Israel: Identical Policies, Opposite Outcomes

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