A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960

“It is an important book because it is the first attempt to link together inflation and output. In some sense it is the basis for many of the books that have been written since about inflation, monetary policy and the real side of the economy.” Read more...

The best books on Inflation

Federica Romei, Economist

“A Monetary History provides the story of the struggle over successive monetary regimes to get the monetary system right. It doesn’t get to the last part of the story, but it gets a lot of the story, at least from a US perspective.” Read more...

The best books on Monetary Policy

Lars Christensen, Economist

“When we look at the monetary history of the United States and ask whether, during those times, the central bank looked anything like it does now, the answer is ‘no’. It’s a book that addresses why that was” Read more...

The Economics of Coronavirus: A Reading List

Ricardo Reis, Economist

“It’s clear that a lot of the policies that were put into place were negative, but as to sorting out how important they were, that’s much more challenging.” Read more...

The best books on The Lessons of the Great Depression

Robert Barro, Economist

“If you buy only one economics book, it should be this. The book is important for our understanding of the Great Depression, but its impact goes far beyond that. Friedman and Schwartz show us that monetary events and monetary policy have affected real output throughout American history.” Read more...

The best books on Learning from the Great Depression

Christina Romer, Economist

“There was an accepted understanding of why it was that the economy went into this searing experience for a generation of Americans and what it was that got the US out again.” Read more...

David Frum recommends five Pioneering Conservative Books

David Frum, Political Commentator

As economic activity looks set to slow dramatically in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, attention has turned to what governments and central banks can do to mitigate the worst effects of the downturn. This is a seminal work on the causes of the Great Depression in the United States. Schwartz and Friedman blamed the intensity of the depression on the Federal Reserve. Ben Bernanke credited this work with ensuring the Fed didn’t make the same mistakes in 2008/09.

Books on the Economic Impact of Coronavirus