Skip to main content

Readings on inflation

Having spent much of the last week keeping up with the news and all manner of market-related interviews and features, I've decided to take a slightly different tack over the next few days.

I'll still be posting a bit, but I'll also be spending some time catching up on some book reading, specifically on the topics of inflation and past hyperinflationary periods. This reading will form the basis of some upcoming posts/articles I plan to write.

First, will be an essay on the true definition of inflation. What is inflation? What is its cause? Why do so many of us have an insufficient understanding of this monetary phenomenon? What can we do to protect ourselves from the ravages of inflation, and what can be done to prevent it in the first place? These are all questions I hope to answer and examine further.

Second, an article on the lessons of past inflationary & hyperinflationary periods, as shown through the work of Max Shapiro, author of The Penniless Billionaires, and others.

This article will shine a spotlight on some of great inflationary periods, from the time of the Roman Empire up to the present day.

Readers will come to know the main argument presented in Shapiro's Billionaires: that inflation is not an accidental, mysterious phenomenon, but an excessive increase in the supply of money and credit that can bring about economic ruin for many and increased prosperity for a few.

By discussing some of the main ideas presented in Shapiro's book, I hope to give readers a more profound understanding of the true nature of inflation, and an interest in debating some of the author's conclusions.

I've also considered including a few footnotes for additional reading recommendations at the end of each article. If any of you would like to recommend an article or book that was especially helpful in understanding inflation from a classical, or "Austrian" perspective, please drop us a note in the comments section, or via email.

Thanks.

Popular posts from this blog

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4.

Slate profiles Victor Niederhoffer

Slate's recent profile of writer/speculator, Vic Niederhoffer has been getting some attention from traders and finance types in recent days. I thought we'd take a look at it here too, to offer up some possible educational value from Vic's experiences with trading and loss. Here's an excerpt from Slate's profile of Victor Niederhoffer : " I've enjoyed getting your e-mails. It sounds like you've thought a lot about being wrong. Well, the reason you contacted me, to call a spade a spade, is that I'm sort of infamous for having made a big, notorious, terrible error not once but twice in my market career. Let's talk about those errors. The first was your investment in the Thai baht, which pretty much wiped you out when the Thai stock market crashed in 1997. I made so many errors there it's pathetic. I made one of my favorite errors: "The mouse with one hole is quickly cornered." That is key. There are certain decisions you make in li

William O'Neil Interview: How to Buy Winning Stocks

Investor's B usiness Daily founder and veteran stock trader, William O'Neil share d his trading methods and insights on buying winning stocks in an in-depth IBD radio interview. Here are some highlights from William O'Neil's interview with IBD: William O'Neil's interest in the stock market began when he started working as a young adult.  "I say many times that I didn't get that much out of college. I didn't have much interest in the stock market until I graduated from college. When I got married, I had to look out into the future and get more serious. The investment world had some appeal and that's when I started studying it. I became a stock broker after I got out of the Air Force."    He moved to Los Angeles and started work in a stock broker's office with twenty other guys. When their phone leads from ads didn't pan out, O'Neil would take the leads and drive down to visit the prospective customers in person.