When Money Dies: The Nightmare Of The Weimar Hyper Inflation
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- Create Date：2021-08-31 08:54:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Adam Fergusson
- ISBN：1906964440
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Summary
When Money Dies is the classic history of what happens when a nation’s currency depreciates beyond recovery。 In 1923， with its currency effectively worthless （the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4，200，000，000，000 marks）， the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy。 Expensive cigars， artworks， and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt。 People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved。 Germany’s finances descended into chaos， with severe social unrest in its wake。
Money may no longer be physically printed and distributed in the voluminous quantities of 1923。 However， “quantitative easing，” that modern euphemism for surreptitious deficit financing in an electronic era， can no less become an assault on monetary discipline。 Whatever the reason for a country’s deficit necessity or profligacy， unwillingness to tax or blindness to expenditure it is beguiling to suppose that if the day of reckoning is postponed economic recovery will come in time to prevent higher unemployment or deeper recession。 What if it does not？ Germany in 1923 provides a vivid， compelling， sobering moral tale。
Reviews
Ed
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dnfI was really disappointed with this book。- The writing is flowery and directionless。- The chapter structure seemed meaningless to me， it's a stream of conciousness。- I enjoyed the bits with first-hand accounts of being a regular citizen during the hyperinflation， but unfortunately there were only a few of these。- The majority of the book describes political factions jockeying with each other。 But there was not a lot in the way of context behind why these factions were arguing or the consequen dnfI was really disappointed with this book。- The writing is flowery and directionless。- The chapter structure seemed meaningless to me， it's a stream of conciousness。- I enjoyed the bits with first-hand accounts of being a regular citizen during the hyperinflation， but unfortunately there were only a few of these。- The majority of the book describes political factions jockeying with each other。 But there was not a lot in the way of context behind why these factions were arguing or the consequences in terms of hyperinflation （other than 'this contributed to the mark's instability' （ch。 3））。- There are __no charts anywhere in the book！__ Instead he reads out the differences between prices between these extinct currencies。- The book lacks any 'gears level' explanations of how hyperinflation works。 The most detailed it gets is; the Versialles treaty forced Germany to give loads of money in reparations， and then this magically caused the value of the mark to go down。 And then because politics they printed more marks。 _but why_？ Like who is doing the FX calculation？ Just saying 'because politics' is not a satisfying reason。 What were the politicians hoping would happen？ Why were they incentivised to print more money？ Another example is that 'war bonds' are mentioned without actually talking about the mechanics of them。- I have a recent edition of the book， but the editors explain at the start of the book that they couldn't be bothered to update the figures in relation to modern currency。 Eg it was written at a time when a billion could mean either 10¹² or 10⁹。 There are also archaic terms like 'milliard'。 。。。more
Denny Troncoso
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Great story to understand the inflationary environment that led to world war 1 and 2。 Germany got into too much debt and printed too much money。 This created a terrible spiral for them by losing the war。
Dani
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Very informative and laden with details。 An engaging read that demands your full attention。
cody born
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You can only say "number go up" in so many ways。 You can only say "number go up" in so many ways。 。。。more
Z
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3。5 stars - dry dry dry but so many highlights。 Fascinating， sad， intriguing to read about the last days of the Weimer Republic。 This might be my last book on it for a minute， this was a good capper on the hodge-podge trilogy I constructed。
Krishnan
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Excellent read。 This book clearly highlights how bad economy breaks human philosophy easily and drives good people to do bad things is portrayed well。 It also shines light on how hyperinflation and unemployment feeds the tools for dictators， war mongers and greedy morally blind people。
Rory Tregaskis
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Annoying。 I picked this up in an attempt to understand， or even be swayed by neoliberal obsessive fear of inflation， but the annoying thing about orthodox economists is they repeat assumptions as facts without interrogating them。 He quotes Copernicus saying something along the lines of 'printing money dilutes it's value' as if monetary systems in the 16th and 20th centuries functioned in the same way， ignoring the existence of Keynes， whose economic policies were largely to thank for the golden Annoying。 I picked this up in an attempt to understand， or even be swayed by neoliberal obsessive fear of inflation， but the annoying thing about orthodox economists is they repeat assumptions as facts without interrogating them。 He quotes Copernicus saying something along the lines of 'printing money dilutes it's value' as if monetary systems in the 16th and 20th centuries functioned in the same way， ignoring the existence of Keynes， whose economic policies were largely to thank for the golden age of capitalism which was coming to an end as this book was written。 There is a lot of picking and choosing of facts to fit theories。 For example， the author talks about too much employment caused over demand which lead to inflation， then later on mentions the blockade of Germany without considering at all what impact that might have - possibly constraining demand， along with the ruined infrastructure of the country at the time， which would have the same affect。 The author also spends time talking about how an inefficient tax system meant budgets weren't balanced which lead to deficit spending and inflation， which fails to understand the fact tax isn't needed to fund spending， the problem results from failing to control demand at the top end of the income scale。 The author talks about people at the time as if they were very ignorant because they were only capable of seeing things in terms of price rises rather than currency depreciation， but then says from one week to the next， double the amount of labour hours were needed to buy the same item。 As Adam Smith says， only labour is a true measure of value， so this would imply prices really were going up too。 There were issues with speculation etc that undoubtedly exacerbated issues， but the sense of 'people back then were stupid， unlike us now' is very annoying。 The author sneeringly quotes a piece from a contemporaneous financial paper which said the currency depreciation was greater than the amount printed， which would suggest the printing is less the cause than a symptom， without any interrogation， even though to me it seems like a reasonable conclusion to come to。 There is no real examination of the type of currency the Mark was at the time， just numbers after numbers after numbers。 The the narration of the audiobook I listened to was terrible。 The reader takes great effort to pronounce every French name correctly， but obviously didn't bother to find out the most basic conventions of German pronunciation。 Very dull book as history and inadequate as economics。 In short， hyperinflation is bad， but the cause is a bit more complicated than 'they printed too much money。' 。。。more
Matt Whitney
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Felt like I was reading a textbook。 Only finished it cause I was stuck on a airplane
Danielle Laman
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Heavy on the numbers but also on the story of this economic disasters。 Gives a lot more to not just Germany， but to Austria and Hungary during the Year of The Wheelbarrow that was 1923。 Recommended for those interested in Weimar Germany or economics
Nick Harriss
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A fascinating book an a lesson for anyone who is wondering what pumping money， created from nothing， into an economy that has gone through a seismic shock。 Let us hope that Quantitative Easing does not have similar consequences。
Sven Gerst
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Essential reading in 2021。
SunPath73
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A lively page-turner of a book， very much worth reading。 My one significant complaint is this: the author writes as if the printing press was the cause of Weimar hyperinflation。 The real problem， the one that Schacht understood and fixed， was two-part。 The central bank was willing to loan at rates lower than inflation; and the government borrowed essentially unlimited amounts of money at that rate， driving inflation with their spending。 （Note to Modern Monetary Theorists: the Weimar government t A lively page-turner of a book， very much worth reading。 My one significant complaint is this: the author writes as if the printing press was the cause of Weimar hyperinflation。 The real problem， the one that Schacht understood and fixed， was two-part。 The central bank was willing to loan at rates lower than inflation; and the government borrowed essentially unlimited amounts of money at that rate， driving inflation with their spending。 （Note to Modern Monetary Theorists: the Weimar government tried and failed to soak up that money with extra taxation！ You need a lot of political trust and an undivided country to pull that off。）I came out with the following main takeaways， reading a bit between the lines:1。 Hyperinflation didn't just happen。 First the Kaiser's government funded WWI with inflation instead of taxes， trying to hide the consequences with price controls and a closure of the stock market; then the Weimar government， coming in with very little legitimacy， tried to solve all its problems with inflation since it had few other choices。2。 Germany had an unusually incompetent central bank。 Havenstein was repeatedly warned that the prime rate was too low， and repeatedly ignored that warning。3。 Hyperinflation is temporary; and， for a private citizen， it's easily survivable。 Keep a deep pantry （standard warnings apply）， have a general habit of stocking up on the things you use， and have laughably tiny stocks of gold and silver; that's enough to weather the storm。 With a little more gold， plus stock in foreign companies and maybe some physical foreign currency， you can do better than that: there are some deals to be had during hyperinflation。4。 Intellectual work and salaried work don't pay during hyperinflation; neither does holding debt。 Having physical assets， taking on debt， and currency speculation do pay off， although currency speculation will cease to be profitable when the hyperinflation ends， and it will end in a matter of days。4。a。 Edit: Lilo relates that this book is wrong about German farmers under hyperinflation。 They had enough to eat， but they weren't coming out of it rich; they were taxed heavily and had to get enough money to pay the taxes。 This sounds easy but wasn't -- imagine covering a $10，000 tax bill with paper currency worth half a cent -- and a lot of farmers lost their farms。 Her comment beneath this review is well worth reading in general: one farmer had his farm saved by a tax agent; his son returned the favor twenty years later， by sparing the tax agent's wife from execution after she said， off-handedly， that maybe Hitler didn't know what he was doing。 This was an extremely generous favor under the Third Reich。 Her fire-eating review of Look Who's Back is completely justified！4。b。 This said， companies producing raw materials remain a good choice under hyperinflation; finished goods will be a mess， but anyone who can reinvest their profits in physical plant will come out with a lot of it。 Oil companies would do particularly well。5。 Don't get attached to your local currency or the competence of your local government。 The more people trusted the mark， the worse they fared。6。 Hyperinflation doesn't destroy public order， for the most part， although it can create long-lasting grievances。 Your stockpile will probably not get looted， but you might want to quit the country afterwards。7。 Retail prices are low early in hyperinflation， high towards the end。 But high retail prices mean that the end of this period is approaching。8。 Don't do your accounting， even your mental accounting， in the hyperinflating currency。 You'll just get confused！ Is it really accurate to do accounting in grams of gold or silver， though？ Gold， in particular， has a lot of fans and not much use value。 I wonder if I should do my accounting in cows。And finally， drawing from Lilo's account: if your country experiences hyperinflation， move away as soon as you can。 Once you have moved to any place that will take you， don't ever go back; it doesn't matter how awful the country you moved to is， or how promising things seem to be back home。 The image in your head of what life under Hitler was like for Jews， is what it was like for non-Jews; what it was like for Jews doesn't bear thinking about。 And， as this book closes by saying， hyperinflation smashes the guardrails of politics。 It takes quite a bit to put them back。 。。。more
lconnor
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the book made me think。 It seemed to be a warning of what could go wrong when excessive money printing leads to inflation and currency depreciation。 Mr。 Ferfusson's examples （based on diaries， etc）， such as the irrational finger-pointing toward various groups thought to be responsible for the misery made me sympathize with these people。 Keep in mind that the book was written in the mid 1970s about money creation in the early 1920s。 the book made me think。 It seemed to be a warning of what could go wrong when excessive money printing leads to inflation and currency depreciation。 Mr。 Ferfusson's examples （based on diaries， etc）， such as the irrational finger-pointing toward various groups thought to be responsible for the misery made me sympathize with these people。 Keep in mind that the book was written in the mid 1970s about money creation in the early 1920s。 。。。more
Dean Calvert
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I'm an Economics guy， fascinated with the history of Economics。。。so I was very excited to get my hands on this book。Having struggled through it， I'm left wondering: is the author simply in love with reading his own words？ 。。。or is the publisher （BBS - aptly named） completely incompetent？Here is a book which could be of singular importance and relevance to today's economic situation。 And the author decides to relate the entire 'story' （which is what it devolves into） in inelegant prose - revolvin I'm an Economics guy， fascinated with the history of Economics。。。so I was very excited to get my hands on this book。Having struggled through it， I'm left wondering: is the author simply in love with reading his own words？ 。。。or is the publisher （BBS - aptly named） completely incompetent？Here is a book which could be of singular importance and relevance to today's economic situation。 And the author decides to relate the entire 'story' （which is what it devolves into） in inelegant prose - revolving mostly around British diplomat's correspondence at the time。Believe it or not - there is NOT ONE TABLE OR GRAPH in the entire book！I've looked for them， repeatedly - because I continue to be amazed that someone thinks their prose is so effective as to eliminate the necessity of tabular data （which would have been of immeasurable help！）。Instead， I'm left to go find the actual data on my own - hoping that at least some of it is contained in my A Monetary History of the United States - by Schwartz and Friedman。What a shame。。。this book could have been a seminal work。 Instead， it's barely readable， extraordinarily tedious and lacks context verging on incoherence。As I stated earlier， either the author was in love with his own writing， or the publisher was completely incompetent。 Probably both。Don't waste your time with this book， unless you have absolutely NOTHING better to do with your time。 。。。more
Samuel Stanton
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Very interested read。 Prose is a little stilted at times， but in general the author's use of primary sources keeps things grounded in what hyperinflation meant for ordinary people。 Very interested read。 Prose is a little stilted at times， but in general the author's use of primary sources keeps things grounded in what hyperinflation meant for ordinary people。 。。。more
Will Eifert
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I began reading "When Money Dies" because Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame predicts that this is our future if the mass money printing continues。 I ended reading with a far better understanding of the conditions that led to the Second World War。"It's the economy， stupid" is a phrase that pops up during many elections， and Fergusson's treatment of Weimar hyperinflation hammers home how true that is。 While I don't pretend to fully understand how modern economics work， Fergusson sheds light on I began reading "When Money Dies" because Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame predicts that this is our future if the mass money printing continues。 I ended reading with a far better understanding of the conditions that led to the Second World War。"It's the economy， stupid" is a phrase that pops up during many elections， and Fergusson's treatment of Weimar hyperinflation hammers home how true that is。 While I don't pretend to fully understand how modern economics work， Fergusson sheds light on the real world impacts of the hyperinflation that plagued Germany in the 1920s。 The author points to the ways that the economic conditions following the first world war fed political forces that ultimately resulted in the second。First-hand accounts from diplomats as well as ordinary citizens give life to series of numbers that are easily passed over。 One learns of middle-class citizens selling their furniture to afford food that is priced beyond reach， of profiteers who used the crisis to get rich， and of the origin of anti-semitic sentiments that in 10 years time would lead to one of history's greatest tragedies。Its pace is slow enough that this book isn't a page turner， but the story is one that provides much-needed context to history and illuminates the dynamics of how inflation impacts peoples' lives。 。。。more
Chris McCartney
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Gets right to the point with empirical evidence。 As of mid March 2021 this should be required reading for those idiots' running monetary policy in this s"'thole of country Canada。 They probably still wouldn't understand the disastrous nature of the policies they adhere to with absolute dogma。 Gets right to the point with empirical evidence。 As of mid March 2021 this should be required reading for those idiots' running monetary policy in this s"'thole of country Canada。 They probably still wouldn't understand the disastrous nature of the policies they adhere to with absolute dogma。 。。。more
Dan Doherty
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A startling account that every person in this age of inflation would be profited by reading intensely。
Zohair
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This book is an excellent account of hyperinflation in Weimar Germany。 There are parts that are technical and hard to follow unless you know the general situation from other sources。 But there are sections and excerpts from ordinary Germans' points of view。 And these paint a fascinating picture of what life would have been like in hyperinflation。 Some of the effects of hyperinflation on the German culture was immediately recognizable to me as changes that I saw growing up （although at a much slo This book is an excellent account of hyperinflation in Weimar Germany。 There are parts that are technical and hard to follow unless you know the general situation from other sources。 But there are sections and excerpts from ordinary Germans' points of view。 And these paint a fascinating picture of what life would have been like in hyperinflation。 Some of the effects of hyperinflation on the German culture was immediately recognizable to me as changes that I saw growing up （although at a much slower inflation speed）。 And I could point to these changes in current circumstances as well。 Contrasting with the opposite and better situation of deflation， one can easily see the damage inflation （even limited） can cause。 Weirdly， the epilogue is the gem of the whole book。 While in the main text， you are left to derive conclusions on your own， the epilogue just points out what to do in inflationary circumstances and how to protect yourself from it's damage。 It also makes poignant arguments about non-intervention in the money supply， something that is lost on current economists and politicians。 I would still recommend reading the main text for the general markers of hyperinflation that it identifies， which could help save you from its ill-effects。Required reading for anyone who cares about their future。 。。。more
Weiching Liu
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Not a bad historical read。
Richard Zhu
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One of the driest， most boring books I've seen in a while。Fergusson sets out with an ambitious goal of covering the human misery of the Weimar hyperinflation event， but the book reads like it was written by a historian paid-by-the-word to deliver a recount of the mark-dollar and mark-pound conversion rates， sprinkled with fun barter anecdotes。 That might be the British way， but it's a waste of time。On the plus side， I think I realized that something like this is very unlikely to happen today。 Pe One of the driest， most boring books I've seen in a while。Fergusson sets out with an ambitious goal of covering the human misery of the Weimar hyperinflation event， but the book reads like it was written by a historian paid-by-the-word to deliver a recount of the mark-dollar and mark-pound conversion rates， sprinkled with fun barter anecdotes。 That might be the British way， but it's a waste of time。On the plus side， I think I realized that something like this is very unlikely to happen today。 People complain about how the Internet is making everyone stupid， but people really， _truly_ were stupid back then。 。。。more
Jidde
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Very thorough description of the impact on humans and society of a government that’s not willing to make hard decisions economically - and keeps on printing。 Book is from 1975 and written in an old fashioned a d dry style that made it hard to really enjoy reading it。 The book has some lessons for our times as well， many。
Bernardo Sacchini
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ReviewGood book， more so for people living hyperinflation today （Venezuelans）。 At times it became a somewhat heavy reading。 A a
Kumail Akbar
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I am pretty surprised by the negative reviews I see here， and I have a gut feeling this is one of those books whose content biases people into having a take on the book without even reading it。 Regardless of your stance on fiscal and monetary prudence， this book ought to be a must read alongside books like 'Lords of Finance: Bankers who Broke the World'。 This is so because while that books does an incredible job of detailing the economic and fiscal morass Europe rushed headlong into during the e I am pretty surprised by the negative reviews I see here， and I have a gut feeling this is one of those books whose content biases people into having a take on the book without even reading it。 Regardless of your stance on fiscal and monetary prudence， this book ought to be a must read alongside books like 'Lords of Finance: Bankers who Broke the World'。 This is so because while that books does an incredible job of detailing the economic and fiscal morass Europe rushed headlong into during the early 1900s， it does so from the perspective of central bankers and the choices and limitations they dealt with。 This book on the other hand completes the entire picture from the perspective of those who ultimately faced the consequences of hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic。 The graphic depiction of the suffering caused by hyperinflation， coupled with the argument that a little understood phenomenon like inflation can start well before it is seen to be spiraling out of control presents us with timely warnings in an age of growing （if not widespread） desire for increased governmental profligacy in several western liberal democracies， as well as within more liberal and left leaning circles in many developing countries。 Economic realities cannot be wished away with sophistry or hairbrained single-mindedness， regardless of their stated aims and objectives。 Excellent， important read。 5 of 5 stars。 。。。more
Paul
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Beware！ Printing Money then is called Quantitive easing now。
Ezra Peace
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A very dry retelling， in great detail， of the events which led to the rapid devaluation/hyper-inflation of the Deutsch Mark and the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1923。 It was interesting for historical value， but I was expecting more resonance with current times given the enthusiasm for Quantatative Easing （the digital money press） that we see from the top world economies today。 I was also hoping for more of a macro-economic take， rather than the socio-economic one given here。
Ayn Bland
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As the 21st century philosopher Jreg eloquently put it: "Print money！" As the 21st century philosopher Jreg eloquently put it: "Print money！" 。。。more
Chloe
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The author discusses historical economic events from the perspective of households and politics， without going into much detail about the macroeconomic dynamics at play or the lessons to be learned for modern economies。 However， it is an interesting look into the economic environment at the time of Hitler's rise and the impact that poor economic conditions had on German society。 In summary: hyperinflation is very bad。 The author discusses historical economic events from the perspective of households and politics， without going into much detail about the macroeconomic dynamics at play or the lessons to be learned for modern economies。 However， it is an interesting look into the economic environment at the time of Hitler's rise and the impact that poor economic conditions had on German society。 In summary: hyperinflation is very bad。 。。。more
Callum Hair
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