Saturday, May 21, 2011

BOOMS AND DEPRESSIONS

In previous posts I have described books on the recent "Great Recession" that I found helpful. I just finished the single best book, although it was written in 1932 and about the Great Depression--Irving Fisher's BOOMS AND DEPRESSIONS. Like several recent books, Fisher focused on debt as a key part of the problem. Some of the book read like it could have been written today--debt in securities, debt in housing, for example. I have been critical of the Fed and QEII, but Fisher makes me reconsider somewhat. He focuses a lot on the effects of falling prices during the early 1930s. Bernanke, as a student of the Great Depression, is aware of these dangers and has focused attention on preventing falling prices.
I wish that some publisher would make this fine book available again to the public.

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