Surprisingly, the general kept itself alive. So welcome to the final edition. This week we read the last part of the book "What Has Government Done to Our Money" discussing an application of the theory laid out in the previous chapters.
The gold standard provided a golden age in the 19th century and one sound money permitted growth on an international scale. While various interventions occurred, the most disastrous event on monetary stability was WW1. It is not often taught in schools, but in order to wage "the Great War" governments abandoned their gold standards and inflated their money. Such that the US only entered at the end, its economy quickly recovered (after the forgotten recession of 1921). In contrast, European countries did not and the post-war period in Europe was that of economic chaos for a while.
From there the concrete economic policy and their failures are discussed. Essentially a series of worse and worse attempts to plan out the economies or to redeem status of countries. The most important thing of note is how exchange ratios, debt, and foreign aid/investment were (and are) used to create deficits which has decimated exports under a protectionist agenda. While the fears of a one world bank did not come true, the threat of CBDCs now looms above our head.
It has been a pleasure reading this book with you guys. Also congratulations, because you now have a better understanding of the economy than most people. So to answer the questions from the begging in the most concise way possible.
Money is a medium of exchange. It arises through a individuals choosing the best commodity available for their transactions. Governments undermine money by inflating its supply to finance their activities. Monero is money, possibly the best one yet. CEXs, CBDCs, and legally compliant development are the ways digital money is undermined.
So anon, what is your perspective on the book? You can comment even if you have not finished.
Also, I'd presume that there are people interested into delving more into Austrian Economics after this. So the following is a list of books that are outside of the scope of this general that you might find interesting. (Going by increasing page count and difficulty)
>Anatomy of the State by Murray N. Rothbard
https://cdn.mises.org/Anatomy+of+the+State_3.pdf>Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
https://github.com/PSCSeifu/TheLibrary/blob/master/Henry%20Hazlitt%20Economics%20in%20One%20Lesson%20(1).pdf>Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth by Ludwig von Mises
https://cdn.mises.org/Economic%20Calculation%20in%20the%20Socialist%20Commonwealth_Vol_2_3.pdf>A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
https://cdn.mises.org/Theory%20of%20Socialism%20and%20Capitalism,%20A_4.pdf>Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market by Murray N. Rothbard
https://cdn.mises.org/man_economy_and_state_with_power_and_market_3.pdf