Understanding Money Mechanics

Bob Murphy breaks it down in easy to understand the monitary system through the lens of Austrian Economics... overall this was a great book with interesting topics and historical context... Also covered was some modern-day information regarding crypto currency and MMT (modern monetary theory)The text is full of sources and citations to explore and understand as well.

Excellent book that was extremely informative and concise . Dr Murphy is a layman’s best friend and continues to bring economics into the 21 century without the fluff .

Great book.

I stumbled upon Robert Murphy a while back now and was very fond of the way he conveys the Austrian message. Tom woods, Robert Murphy, Ron Paul, and Peter Schiff I believe give the best messaging of Austrian economics!

I have been looking forward to the publication of this work by Bob Murphy ever since the January 6, 2020 announcement by the Mises Institute of its pending publication. Although delayed by the pandemic, I found it well worth the wait.This book is, to use the author’s own words, aimed at the “intelligent layperson”. I feel he has met that goal, in that it does not get bogged down in the weeds of economic theory, and stays true to its goal of being a “comprehensive overview” of economic theory and the functions of money.In this book, the author starts by taking the reader on a journey through the history and concepts surrounding money, and the establishment of the Federal Reserve System. Then, he details how the system works to “create money” and explains the various actions taken by the Fed to combat the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2020 Corona Virus “Panic”. I found this to be particularly interesting, since although living through the 2008 Financial Crisis, I had forgotten how really radical the Fed’s actions had been.Next, the author has a section on the concept of the trade cycle, a look at what is meant by “inflation”, the yield curve, and the housing bubble/bust. That is followed by a final section detailing where we go from here, with a look at the Keynesian and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) approaches, and of course a section on Bitcoin. To me the section on Bitcoin could have been omitted, but that is probably just me.The author is of the Austrian school of economics, which has its roots in the 19th Century writings of Ludwig von Mises’s theory of the “Trade Cycle”.In a discussion the other day with a few of my friends one of them asked me to explain where the Austrians fit in the various schools of economic thought by using a political theory analogy.After a bit of thought on my part I came up with the following analogy (and freely acknowledge that all analogies have built in flaws). Classical Economists would be considered the Democrats and Republicans of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The Keynesians would be the Socialists, and the followers of MMT would be full blown Communists. And where would I put the Austrians? In this analogy, they would be the Libertarians.The author does a good job of keeping the tone of the book neutral in terms of presenting the history and basics of economic thought, and really only lets his personal (Austrian) perspective come through in the final chapters where he points out the fallacies of using either a Keynesian or an MMT approach to our current economic situation.As I stated this book is intended as an overview of the subject and does an excellent job, plus it provides the reader with suggested further sources if the reader wants to dive deeper into a particular area.I think this book is a very valuable contribution towards a better understanding of current economic challenges by the general public. To put my feelings into even greater perspective, I have ordered five more copies of this book and intend to give them to friends that I feel would appreciate the contents.

Bob Murphy explique avec une grande clarté le principal à savoir sur la monnaie, d'un point de vue théorique, comme d'un point de vue plus pratique (explications détaillées des opérations des banques centrales notamment, sans pour autant devenir trop technique, qui complètent les explications des anciens maîtres autrichiens).Dommage qu'il n'existe à ma connaissance qu'en anglais au moment où j'écris ce commentaire (bien que ce soit facile à lire en anglais pour quelqu'un qui lit un peu d'anglais économique).Une référence dans ma bibliothèque !

Es un autor que escribe muy bien y divertido. Se lee rápido y es ameno en temas que no son fáciles. Recomendable.