Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went

Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
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Keynesian view on Monetary History is a prescient remdinder that we have much to learn

Great Book. But too bad it ends around 1973

A rare book

Money, come back!

It's about time banks were explained Foolishly

Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
John Kenneth Galbraith
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0735100705

Customer Reviews:

Keynesian view on Monetary History is a prescient remdinder that we have much to learn.......2007-09-04

"Money" is an easily read and easily comprehended history of how the western industrialized countries have created, adapted, and managed their monetary systems. Written by one of the post-WWII-era's most famous economists, John Kenneth Galbraith, "Money" is as much a lesson in American history and politics as it is in economics. Galbraith seeks to show how the management of monetary systems, driven by the interests of the rich and supported at times by conservative ideology, has been fraught with error, corruption, and more commonly--simple incompetence. But he protests the inefficacy of monetary management too much. Published in 1975, Galbraith's book can be seen as a response to the rise of the "monetarist" school of economics which, in many ways, was a challenge his economic philosophy.

An ardent supporter of the Keynesian school of economics, Galbraith rose to prominence during the late Depression era and especially during WWII as a government official in charge of controlling prices (He later served in the several Democratic administrations including a post as Ambassador to India for Kennedy). With the Depression still in full force just prior to WWII, he was chosen specifically to help implement a Keynesian economic policy which emphasized the use of fiscal policy--government spending and more activist management of the economy--to bring about full employment.

In 1963, Milton Friedman and Ann Schwartz published the now famous "Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1963". Friedman and Schwartz laid out, in convincing empirical fashion, what became known as the "monetarist" school of economics which emphasized the management of the monetary system as the key to macroeconomics stability and growth. While "Monetary History" acknowledges the managerial shortcomings of past monetary officials--those shortcomings were the result of a lack of understanding of the monetary system rather than an inherent flaw in monetary policies themselves. In contrast, Galbraith's "Money" emphasizes that monetary policy is itself flawed. In addition to showing how attempts to manage monetary systems over the past 200 years have generally been abysmal, Galbraith goes on to assert that even when managed well, monetary policy has a limited impact on macroeconomic health compared to Keynesian-influenced fiscal policies.

Galbraith may have a point. In the 30 years since he published "Money", activist fiscal policy has been replaced by activist monetary policy as the tool of choice for maintaining macroeconomic growth and stability. Yet, monetary crises have remained a significant feature of the economic landscape: The stagflation of the late 1970s, the early 80s recession as a result of the monetary policy response of Paul Volcker's FED; the Asian Financial Crisis; and the current housing bubble brought on by the FED relaxation of interest rates in response to the previous dot-com bubble. The art of managing a monetary system seems no more under control than it did earlier in the 20th century. What has changed over the past 30 years is the realization that increasing economic centralization under the aegis of Keynesian-influenced government intervention has been shown to be problematic to economic growth as well. In addition conservatives also call upon the works of Hayek to show that economic centralization--an inherent feature of heavily Keynesian governments--has political implications that put individual freedoms at risk as well

Ultimately Galbraith's "Money" is an excellent and understandable introduction to the various efforts over the last several centuries to manage monetary systems. But the reader is given more than monetary and Keynesian theory and is engaged in a wonderful, if broad-brushed economic history of the United States. Fifteen years ago, an argument could be made that "Money" was out of date. A second look at recent crises born of monetary policy suggests that "Money" is a relevant reminder that there is still much to learn.

Great Book. But too bad it ends around 1973.......2007-03-08

This is an absolutely wonderful book. Lively and fun to read. I highly recommend it. But it stops about 1973. The 2001 reprint was not updated. Which is a shame because Galbraith would have had a lot to say about the folly of the last 30 years.

A rare book.......2004-10-27

More and more books on economics are just based on political opinions so it is refreshing to read economics based on historical facts. Of course facts are interpreted and Kenneth Galbraith, as a leftist, is not unbiased, nevertheless he tries to be honest and didn't hesitate to be critics towards the US Central Bank. He qualified as Burton effect the veneration of scholarships towards this institution which is unjustifiable for him. For example, he is maybe the only one who reveals that the Central Bank has refused to save the 1929 crash but a state bank unknown from the public. The FED is in private hands although created with public agreement by Congress.

Money, come back!.......2001-01-05

This is JKG holding forth on that most perennially fascinating of topics. The subtitle ("Whence it Came, Where it Went") may bear a relation to the question on everybody's mind during the early and mid-seventies: why is our money behaving so badly?

"In the twenty years before the founding of the [Federal Reserve] System there were 1748 bank suspensions; in the twenty years after it ended the anarchy of unstable private banking, there were 15,502."(p144)

"...the Democrats...could authorize it [the central bank] without being suspected of evil."(p239)

"...the [German] inflation of 1923, with its euthanasia of the "rentier" class...had almost certainly a far greater [than the 1945 inflation] effect on relative wealth. ...The loss of assets makes a deep impression on an impressionable class of people. The loss of jobs is accepted more philosophically."(p303/304)

"... the higher oil price [in 1973] was considered highly inflationary ... in fact, it was deflationary ... the revenues... accumulated in unspent balances. Thus they represented a withdrawal from current purchasing power..."(p363) (The rest of the paragraph is relevant. The basic point is that the oil producers took money out of circulation, since they made it far faster than they could spend it.)"

And the piece de resistence: "To see economic policy as a problem of choice between rival ideologies is the greatest error of our time."(p368)

MONEY

OK, do I have your attention? Well, this book will not demystify money - like love it is resistant to that, but like love we can't let it go. And its progress through our culture is a fascination, attended by hopes, frauds, inventions, and, not least, desperate invocations.

Galbraith is a writer of enormous wit, intelligence, learning, and sympathy. But he is, of course, a liberal, so to many anything he says will be suspected as not arising out of a proper deference to the efficacy of pure market forces. Just as daunting, his strong, ironical style requires a neophyte a few pages to adjust to syntax shock. Once comfortable with the language, though, one can sit back and enjoy the colorful cavalcade of rogues and fools, madmen and prophets, as they invent and wreck institutions, impoverish whole nations, and pay for wars with worthless paper.

A Harvard economist, a former ambassador, and a leading Keynesian in the Roosevelt administration, John Kenneth Galbraith is at home in the twentieth century's public life as few others are, and has a firm intellectual grasp of his sometimes slippery subject. This book is a witty, but intellectually serious, history of a concept absolutely central to what we are pleased to call modern life, and how it has grown and changed from exchanging pieces of something shiny to now encompass powerful banks, puzzling foreign exchange markets, and tottering Ponzi schemes. Vast frauds separated by centuries appeal to the same base motives and use the same crude stratagems to separate us from our bit of money in hopes we'll get more. With money, like love, it seems we will never learn. But there is much enjoyment in the lessons, anyway.

It's about time banks were explained Foolishly.......1999-02-09

Galbraith explains banks & money as wittily as the Motley Fool demystifies stocks & Wall Street. Too bad Galbraith was way ahead of his time. Too bad it is out-of-print. Please bring "Money..." back ASAP.

Average customer rating:

MONEY WHENCE IT CAME, WHERE IT WENT

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H42WZ0

Average customer rating:

MONEY WHENCE IT CAME, WHERE IT WENT
JOHN KENNETH GALBRATH
Manufacturer: Deutsch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPZMGI

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Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
John Kenneth Galbraith
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin & Co. c1975
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ONEBQW

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Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
John Kenneth Galbraith
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NVVNH0

Book Description

There is a growing tendency to organize various aspects of business life by projects, and to set up temporary organizations in a competition where speed and adaptability becomes a major necessity. Organizing by projects is perceived as a good way to ensure action and to stress the importance of getting work done. However, there is a need to balance the stress on action so that learning capabilities are not only retained, but augmented.
Projects as Arenas for Renewal and Learning Processes provides examples of how different types of projects function from a learning or renewal perspective, taken from a wide variety of real-life environments in industrial and public organizations. This book illustrates the mistaken habit of assuming too much in the project area: for example, project notions are, in fact, culture-dependent; classical market-oriented contracting business relations do not fit with the learning dimension of projects; and long-term learning on core competencies and product development projects need to be connected. The book is also intended to represent many of the research frontiers in the project field. Enhancing learning capabilities is - or should be - of a mutual concern to researchers and managers alike.

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The Stanford cases are written from the perspective of Silicon Valley, the heart of the e-commerce revolution.
* Authors are very involved in e-commerce companies, providing exceptional real world application and relevance.

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Excellent Overview of Electronic Commerce.......2001-10-30

A very nice introduction to the economics of electronic commerce with a good overview of its technological antecedents. Most of the book is devoted to more than twenty Stanford Business School case studies covering such companies as SAP, Siebel, eBay, Cisco, Webvan, and so on. Well-written and easy to read. Well worth the purchase!

Crisp Series: Build a Continuing Relationship: Providing Personalized Customer Service, Workbook 3 (Crisp Retailing Smarts Series)
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Crisp Series: Build a Continuing Relationship: Providing Personalized Customer Service, Workbook 3 (Crisp Retailing Smarts Series)
NRF Foundation
Manufacturer: Thomson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1423950690

Crisp: Retailing Smarts Series: Providing Personalized Customer Service Big Book (Crisp Retailing Smarts Series)
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Good Tips on Customer Service for Anyone in Sales

Crisp: Retailing Smarts Series: Providing Personalized Customer Service Big Book (Crisp Retailing Smarts Series)
Crisp Publications
Manufacturer: Crisp Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Good Tips on Customer Service for Anyone in Sales.......2005-10-14

While Building a Continuing Relationship is tailored towards those in retail, anyone in outside sales can benefit from the book's tips in handling customer complaints.

The booklet's main theme is using the acronym "THANKS" in addressing customer complaints:

T - Thank the customer. By doing this, the customer is put at
ease and shows appreciation for his business.
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and be prepared to be a good listener.
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K - Know a solution. Find out what solution best satisfies the
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S - Solve the problem. Resolve the complaint not to get rid of a
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In summary, a good and brief reminder of the importance of taking care of the customer in the sales process.

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