The Library of Economics and Liberty logo

    Economics Reading Lists by Topic

    Advanced Book Search
    Advanced Site Search
    A. R. J. Turgot
    A. R. J. Turgot
    Home
    Books
    Encyclopedia
    Articles
    Topics
    Micro
    •Macro
    International
    Finance
    Public Sector
    Population
    Labor
    Law
    IO
    Growth
    History
    Methodology
    Fiction
    Data
    Links
     
    Register for Econlib News
    FAQ and Help
    Topic: Inflation

    Buchanan, James M. and Richard E. Wagner, Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes, specifically Chapter 8, Money-Financed Deficits and Political Democracy.

    Cagan, Philip, Persistent Inflation

    Gordon, Robert J., (ed.), Milton Friedman's Monetary Framework: A Debate with His Critics

    Friedman, Milton & Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States

    Mises, Ludwig von, The Theory of Money and Credit

    Newcomb, Simon The A B C of Finance, 1877

      Written for the popular press to explain the basics of an unchecked increase in the money supply on debt and wage contracts, The ABC of Finance delights with refreshing language and entertaining analogies. Newcomb's chapter on the production process is echoed in Read's I, Pencil; that on the effects of unexpected inflations on labor supply and business cycles presages Lucas and Rapping's 1972 "Real Wages, Employment, and Inflation." His ability to use simple language to illustrate complex economic points runs throughout the book. Consider this aside, poking at "starvation wages":

      A few weeks ago it was said that several railroads of the country lowered the wages of their men to the starvation point. Now, I confess that I do not know what the "starvation point" is, and so cannot say whether this is true or not; but I will remark, in passing, that there has been within the past year or two a great fall in the price of nearly everything necessary to the laborer's comfort; and that starvation wages will buy a great deal more than they would two or three years ago. (Lesson III, par. 1)

      Simon Newcomb, Canadian-born, home-educated astronomer and mathematician whose work at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington and at Johns Hopkins included accurate orbital calculations for Neptune, Uranus, and the moon, wrote extensively on economics. His several expository works in economics included a popular principles book. His motivating interests included individual property rights and the economic freedoms, security, and opportunities that governments can provide by their constitutions, laws, and consistent behavior, along with an attention to empirical detail. Difficulty Level 0: High school

    Romer, Christine and David Romer, (eds.), Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy

    Sargent, Thomas, The Conquest of American Inflation

    Taylor, John, (ed.), Monetary Policy Rules

    See also: Money Demand and Supply.

    Return to top


    Copyright ©: 1999-2004, Liberty Fund.
    The cuneiform inscription in the logo is the earliest-known written appearance of the word "freedom" (amagi), or "liberty." It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash.
    Picture of A. R. J. Turgot courtesy of The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.
    The URL for this site is: http://www.econlib.org. Please direct questions or comments about the website to webmaster@econlib.org.