The Theory of Money and Credit

In 1912, when Mises, at age thirty-one, wrote this landmark book, no monetary theory could be described as both securely founded on economic reality and properly incorporated into an analysis of the entire economic system. The Theory of Money and Credit opened new vistas. It integrated monetary theory into the main body of economic analysis for the first time, providing fresh new insights into the nature of money and its role in the economy. As the well-known “Austrian” economist Rothbard writes in his new foreword: “This book performed the mighty feat of integrating monetary with micro theory, of building monetary theory upon the individualistic foundations of general economic analysis.”
The Theory of Money and Credit, trans. H.E. Batson (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1981).
Copyright:
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
People:
- Author: Ludwig von Mises
- Translator: Harold E. Batson
Formats:
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Table of Contents
- CONTENTS
- Econlib Editor’s Notes
- FOREWORD
- PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
- INTRODUCTION
- PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION
- PART ONE: THE NATURE OF MONEY
- CHAPTER 1: The Function of Money
- 1: The General Economic Conditions for the Use of Money
- 2: The Origin of Money
- 3: The “Secondary” Functions of Money
- CHAPTER 2: On the Measurement of Value
- 1: The Immeasurability of Subjective Use-Values
- 2: Total Value
- 3: Money as a Price Index
- CHAPTER 3: The Various Kinds of Money
- 1: Money and Money Substitutes
- 2: The Peculiarities of Money Substitutes
- 3: Commodity Money, Credit Money, and Fiat Money
- 4: The Commodity Money of the Past and of the Present
- CHAPTER 4: Money and the State
- 1: The Position of the State in the Market
- 2: The Legal Concept of Money
- 3: The Influence of the State on the Monetary System
- CHAPTER 5: Money as an Economic Good
- 1: Money Neither a Production Good nor a Consumption Good
- 2: Money as Part of Private Capital
- 3: Money Not a Part of Social Capital
- CHAPTER 6: The Enemies of Money
- 1: Money in the Socialist Community
- 2: Money Cranks
- PART TWO: THE VALUE OF MONEY
- CHAPTER 7: The Concept of the Value of Money
- 1: Subjective and Objective Factors in the Theory of the Value of Money
- 2: The Objective Exchange Value of Money
- 3: The Problems Involved in the Theory of the Value of Money
- CHAPTER 8: The Determinants of the Objective Exchange Value, or Purchasing Power, of Money
- (I): The Element of Continuity in the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- 1: The Dependence of the Subjective Valuation of Money on the Existence of Objective Exchange Value
- 2: The Necessity for a Value Independent of the Monetary Function Before an Object Can Serve as Money
- 3: The Significance of Preexisting Prices in the Determination of Market Exchange Ratios
- 4: The Applicability of the Marginal-Utility Theory to Money
- 5: ”Monetary” and “Nonmonetary” Influences Affecting the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- (II): Fluctuations in the Objective Exchange Value of Money Evoked by Changes in the Ratio Between the Supply of Money and the Demand for It
- 6: The Quantity Theory
- 7: The Stock of Money and the Demand for Money
- 8: The Consequences of an Increase in the Quantity of Money While the Demand for Money Remains Unchanged or Does Not Increase to the Same Extent
- 9: Criticism of Some Arguments Against the Quantity Theory
- 10: Further Applications of the Quantity Theory
- (III): A Special Cause of Variations in the Objective Exchange Value of Money Arising from the Peculiarities of Indirect Exchange
- 11: ”Dearness of Living”
- 12: Wagner’s Theory: The Influence of the Permanent Predominance of the Supply Side over the Demand Side on the Determination of Prices
- 13: Wieser’s Theory: The Influence on the Value of Money Exerted by a Change in the Relations Between Natural Economy and Money Economy
- 14: The Mechanism of the Market as a Force Affecting the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- (IV): Excursuses
- 15: The Influence of the Size of the Monetary Unit and Its Subdivisions on the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- 16: A Methodological Comment
- CHAPTER 9: The Problem of the Existence of Local Differences in the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- 1: Interlocal Price Relations
- 2: Alleged Local Differences in the Purchasing Power of Money
- 3: Alleged Local Differences in the Cost of Living
- CHAPTER 10: The Exchange Ratio Between Money of Different Kinds
- 1: The Twofold Possibility of the Coexistence of Different Kinds of Money
- 2: The Static or Natural Exchange Ratio Between Different Kinds of Money
- CHAPTER 11: The Problem of Measuring the Objective Exchange Value of Money and Variations in It
- 1: The History of the Problem
- 2: The Nature of the Problem
- 3: Methods of Calculating Index Numbers
- 4: Wieser’s Refinement of the Methods of Calculating Index Numbers
- 5: The Practical Utility of Index Numbers
- CHAPTER 12: The Social Consequences of Variations in the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- 1: The Exchange of Present Goods for Future Goods
- 2: Economic Calculation and Accountancy
- 3: Social Consequences of Variations in the Value of Money When Only One Kind of Money Is Employed
- 4: The Consequences of Variations in the Exchange Ratio Between Two Kinds of Money
- CHAPTER 13: Monetary Policy
- 1: Monetary Policy Defined104
- 2: The Instruments of Monetary Policy
- 3: Inflationism
- 4: Restrictionism or Deflationism
- 5: Invariability of the Objective Exchange Value of Money as the Aim of Monetary Policy
- 6: The Limits of Monetary Policy
- 7: Excursus: The Concepts Inflation and Deflation
- CHAPTER 14: The Monetary Policy of Etatism
- 1: The Monetary Theory of Etatism
- 2: National Prestige and the Rate of Exchange
- 3: The Regulation of Prices by Authoritative Decree
- 4: The Balance-of-Payments Theory as a Basis of Currency Policy
- 5: The Suppression of Speculation
- PART THREE: MONEY AND BANKING
- CHAPTER 15: The Business of Banking
- 1: Types of Banking Activity
- 2: The Banks as Negotiators of Credit
- 3: The Banks as Issuers of Fiduciary Media
- 4: Deposits as the Origin of Circulation Credit
- 5: The Granting of Circulation Credit
- 6: Fiduciary Media and the Nature of Indirect Exchange
- CHAPTER 16: The Evolution of Fiduciary Media
- 1: The Two Ways of Issuing Fiduciary Media
- 2: Fiduciary Media and the Clearing System
- 3: Fiduciary Media in Domestic Trade
- 4: Fiduciary Media in International Trade
- CHAPTER 17: Fiduciary Media and the Demand for Money
- 1: The Influence of Fiduciary Media on the Demand for Money in the Narrower Sense
- 2: The Fluctuations in the Demand for Money
- 3: The Elasticity of the System of Reciprocal Cancellation
- 4: The Elasticity of a Credit Circulation Based on Bills, Especially on Commodity Bills
- 5: The Significance of the Exclusive Employment of Bills as Cover for Fiduciary Media
- 6: The Periodical Rise and Fall in the Extent to Which Bank Credit Is Requisitioned
- 7: The Influence of Fiduciary Media on Fluctuations in the Objective Exchange Value of Money
- CHAPTER 18: The Redemption of Fiduciary Media
- 1: The Necessity for Complete Equivalence Between Money and Money Substitutes
- 2: The Return of Fiduciary Media to the Issuer on Account of Lack of Confidence on the Part of the Holders
- 3: The Case Against the Issue of Fiduciary Media
- 4: The Redemption Fund
- 5: The So-called Banking Type of Cover for Fiduciary Media
- 6: The Significance of Short-Term Cover
- 7: The Security of the Investments of the Credit-issuing Banks
- 8: Foreign Bills of Exchange as a Component of the Redemption Fund
- CHAPTER 19: Money, Credit, and Interest
- 1: On the Nature of the Problem
- 2: The Connection Between Variations in the Ratio Between the Stock of Money and the Demand for Money and Fluctuations in the Rate of Interest
- 3: The Connection Between the Equilibrium Rate and the Money Rate of Interest
- 4: The Influence of the Interest Policy of the Credit-issuing Banks on Production
- 5: Credit and Economic Crises
- CHAPTER 20: Problems of Credit Policy
- (I): Prefatory Remark
- 1: The Conflict of Credit Policies
- (II): Problems of Credit Policy Before the War80
- 2: Peel’s Act
- 3: The Nature of Discount Policy
- 4: The Gold-Premium Policy89
- 5: Systems Similar to the Gold-Premium Policy
- 6: The Nonsatisfaction of the So-called Illegitimate Demand for Money
- 7: Other Measures for Strengthening the Stock of Metal Held by the Central Banks-of-Issue
- 8: The Promotion of Check and Clearing Transactions as a Means of Reducing the Rate of Discount
- (III): Problems of Credit Policy in the Period Immediately After the War
- 9: The Gold-Exchange Standard107
- 10: A Return to a Gold Currency
- 11: The Problem of the Freedom of the Banks
- 12: Fisher’s Proposal for a Commodity Standard
- 13: The Basic Questions of Future Currency Policy
- PART FOUR: MONETARY RECONSTRUCTION
- CHAPTER 21: The Principle of Sound Money
- 1: The Classical Idea of Sound Money
- 2: The Virtues and Alleged Shortcomings of the Gold Standard
- 3: The Full-Employment Doctrine
- 4: The Emergency Argument in Favor of Inflation
- CHAPTER 22: Contemporary Currency Systems
- 1: The Inflexible Gold Standard
- 2: The Flexible Standard
- 3: The Freely Vacillating Currency
- 4: The Illusive Standard
- CHAPTER 23: The Return to Sound Money
- 1: Monetary Policy and the Present Trend Toward All-round Planning
- 2: The Integral Gold Standard
- 3: Currency Reform in Ruritania
- 4: The United States’ Return to a Sound Currency
- 5: The Controversy Concerning the Choice of the New Gold Parity
- 6: Concluding Remarks
- APPENDIX A: On the Classification of Monetary Theories
- 1: Catallactic and Acatallactic Monetary Doctrine
- 2: The “State” Theory of Money
- 3: Schumpeter’s Attempt to Formulate a Catallactic Claim Theory
- 4: ”Metallism”
- 5: The Concept of “Metallism” in Wieser and Philippovich
- 6: Note: The Relation of the Controversy About Nominalism to the Problems of the Two English Schools of Banking Theory
- APPENDIX B: Translator’s Note on the Translation of Certain Technical Terms
- Biographical Note
- Silver Demereteia of Syracuse (480-479 bc)