When Money Dies

The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany

By: Adam Fergusson

Narrated by: Antony Ferguson

When Money Dies is the classic history of what happens when a nation's currency depreciates beyond recovery. In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy.

Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany's finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake.

Money may no longer be physically printed and distributed in the voluminous quantities of 1923. However, quantitative easing, that modern euphemism for surreptitious deficit financing in an electronic era, can no less become an assault on monetary discipline. Whatever the reason for a country's deficit - necessity or profligacy, unwillingness to tax, or blindness to expenditure - it is beguiling to suppose that if the day of reckoning is postponed economic recovery will come in time to prevent higher unemployment or deeper recession. What if it does not? Germany in 1923 provides a vivid, compelling, sobering moral tale.

©2010 Adam Fergusson (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Engrossing and sobering.” ( Daily Express, London)

“One of the most blood chilling economics books I’ve ever read.” (Allen Mattich, The Wall Street Journal)

Many humongous amounts around a fascinating human tragedy

When Money Dies is a warning for us all: when governments lose control of the money the chaos following is unstoppable. In our times post the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic leading to unimaginable and seemingly never ending money printing is a finger of warning. Sure, we can assume that our modern times with a different level of technology and information access is more advanced than allowing for the madness of the post-WWI Germany of the Weimar Republic, but that’s no guarantee that problems can’t easily come.

What happened in Germany between in the 1920s is a scary tale, living in that society must have been unbelievable tough, borderline unbearable. The book manages to capture that level of despair well. What it does not manage to do is assuring an easy read. All the big amount a of billions and trillions and zillions certainly don’t help, but possibly an angle focusing more on decisions rather than numbers could have helped.

Nonetheless, it is still a book well worth reading, it’s an important lesson about the nature of money and the importance of it being well managed by our governments. A case we can’t be too sure about today either.

Gripping recounts of things to come

The good times are followed by better times followed by bad times.
Conséquences matter. So does physical and metaphysical existence.

The past is prologue

Great book. A very big warning flag for those of us in America, who think money can be created into infinity...

wow

excellent, eye opening, historical text and commentary. at least fifteen words are in this review.

informative

This book enlightened me on many shades of the hyperinflation in Germany, both before WWI, after, and leading up to WWII. The narrator, though not so spirited, does a decent job. I think if you're not already interested in the subject, this would bore you though. It's packed with information.

little dry

lot of just numbers. but interesting. you can oy tell me how the price of something rose 15x in a day so many times before I start to tune out. the epilog was great

Those who…

… do not know history or believe that they are cleverer than historical examples, are doomed to repeat it.

Problem is, us Plebs have no control over the money supply. But, we have Bitcoin :)

Once again paper currency’s throughout the world are being inflated and those who understand the numbers realize we are once again transitioning into significant Inflation, potentially soon hyperinflation.

Bitcoin will protect us all. Time to study up by reading “The Bitcoin Standard” by Saifedean Ammous - and transitioning your Fiat into Bitcoin.

Timely

Excellent. Well written, well researched. Much of it could be taken from the New York Times today. If we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them.
Read, learn, prepare.

Life during destructive fiat deficit spending

A tremendous overview into the true moral decay when money longer continues to be a medium of exchange.

Chilling Reminder

Trust falls apart as values do, pay attention to the times you are living in