Purchase book

Americans view themselves as reasonably prudent and sober people when it comes to matters of money. Yet as a community, we also seem to believe that we are entitled to a lifestyle that is well beyond our income, a tendency that goes back to the earliest days of the United States and particularly to get-rich-quick experiences ranging from the Gold Rush of the 1840s to the real-estate bubble of the early 21st century. Inflated examines this apparent conflict, as it seeks to tell the story of money inflation and public debt as recurring features of American life. Inflated also draws on the insights of Austrian business-cycle theory in painting its picture of American economic history.