Product Description

A unique view of historical change, based on the rise and fall of prices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #175907 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 552 pages

Mark Archer, The Sunday Telegraph
"a work of phenomenal scope and erudition ... Fischer's history of inflation is a thoroughly good read ... He should send the Treasury a copy."

Review
a work of phenomenal scope and erudition ... Fischer's history of inflation is a thoroughly good read ... He should send the Treasury a copy. (Mark Archer, The Sunday Telegraph )

a provocative and thoughtful journey through history (The Economist )

About the Author
David Hackett Fischer is Warren Professor of History at Brandeis University. He has won numerous awards for scholarship and teaching, including the Carnegie Prize as Massachusetts Teacher of the Year in 1991. His books include the highly acclaimed Paul Revere's Ride and Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America.

Customer Reviews

Excellent, Highly Recommended
Fischer's book takes in a long view of basic economic history. It covers the period from roughly 1200 AD to present, using data from England, Europe and the United States. The book sizes up what has taken place economically, socially, etc. and it discusses some basic relationships. A great contribution of the book is that it becomes apparent to the reader that long term effects are frequently completely invisible to people coping with present economic situations. For example, many well-intended fiscal policies are counter-productive or produce neutral effects for this very reason. Another great supporting contribution of the book is that Fischer is well aware of the various schools of economic thought. At many places in the text, he points out weaknesses of certain theories; in his appendix he summarizes by showing that no existing single theory fully explains actual historical events. Another great contribution is the appendix itself. It comprises half the book, and contains a massive bibliography, with further elaborations on social issues, crime, disease, divorce, contrasts in economic theories, wealth distribution, and more. Most of the references are of high scholarly quality. There are a few shortcomings in presentation, but these are details. For example, Fischer occasionally makes asides which would be more effective if they were concise summaries. Also, some of his graphs have peculiar scaling. The reader must exercise care in interpreting them. Nevertheless, ... Fischer's work is an excellent overview of economic dynamics, and is highly recommended for obtaining a well-rounded perspective.

An astonishing, optimistic book -- know history or repeat it
A remarkable review of economic cycles since 1200. Well written, informative, and remarkably humane. If civilisation is going to control the slumps and booms so that the poor do not always suffer, then we need all of us to leant to apply the lessons taught us in this book.

Excellent

Excellent, readable, well-documented, and entertaining.
This should be a must read for anyone interested in inflation and historical business cycles. There is a liberal bias to some of his arguments but the criticisms I have seen of this work are oversimplifications of this massive synthesis of economic and historical data.