Credit-history Books

Two milestones in recent U.S. history profoundly impacted the lifestyle of the middle class: The 1929 depression that propagated frugality, and the double digit inflation of the late 1970s-early 1980s that instigated a reversal of the depression era trends and whet America's appetite for risk and propensity to take on debt.

In what Mr. Nocera terms as "the money revolution", consumption in the U.S. rose rapidly, facilitated in large part by the proliferation of credit cards and inflation scares. Investing was brought to the masses through discount brokerages and mutual funds. The money revolution, as the ever enthusiastic and upbeat Money Magazine editor, Marshall Loeb defined it, was about how the middle class was finally gaining access to all the financial tools that had previously been available only to the rich.

Mr. Nocera is a master story teller, and in "A Piece of the Action", he focuses on the eccentric and brilliant individuals who had an integral part in the money revolution; individuals such as Dee Hock, the inventor of Visa, Peter Lynch, the most successful mutual fund manager, Charles Schwab who popularized discount brokerages et al.

The "rapid conversion of income to possessions" that began in the late 1970s' double digit inflation era defined America's consumption and abysmally low savings for decades to follow. It will be interesting to see how the global financial melt down in 2008 will affect these deeply embedded behaviors in the American consumers' psyche. No matter what the outcome, one thing's for certain: You don't mess with the Zohan.

It may be difficult for many of you younger people to grasp how primitive many of our business practices were back only 40 years ago.

When I started working at Visa in 1973, those thin tissue copies of sales receipts were manually taken to the merchant's bank each evening and placed in a "drop-box". Then they were "processed" by the merchant's bank which really meant they were physically sorted into piles to be copied and sent by mail to each of the banks around the country that had issued the card to the customer. In addition, a calculator tape was added up to total the receits to be sent to each issuing bank.

Days or weeks later, a bank draft was sent by the issuer to pay for that shoe-box of receipts and then the customer was billed. It took on average over 40 days before the charge actually appeared on the customer's bill. International sales could take up to three months.

This was replaced by an electronic system that could send millions of sales transactions overnight. Your first impression of this description might well be that this was only important to some banks so who cares. The reality is that it permitted banks to loosen their procedures for issuing credit cards so that most of the middle class was able for the first time to buy goods away from home easily and simply. In 1973, less than 2% of Americans had a card that permitted them to buy goods and services when not dealing with a local merchant. Ten years later over 50% had such cards.

There were a number of revolutions that took place in our society from the mid-60s to the mid-70s and this tells the story wonderfully of a few financial revolutions that had tremendous benefits for the general public. You will be both entertained and informed by this book and what more can you ask of a book?

Not a complete and in depth analytical history of banking, but rather a "pop-history" of consumer finance (But the history leg work is there).A look at the innovators and their innovations that changed how we conduct our personal business....good bathroom/travel read;or as supplementary work for a report. The writer does a good job of staying "neutral" but does indeed claim to be pro-consumption (and it shows by tone). But a good fun read anyways.

This story of the revolution in the credit & investment industries; & it's powerful impact on society.

I bought this on an Amazon recommendation. Its really a great book. I am truly shocked this book is not better known; I'd rate it a classic on Personal Finance.

The edition of "The Theory of Money and Credit" from Signalman Publishing was specifically formatted and published for the Kindle. This specialized version enhances the readability and allows the reader to better focus on and understand the thoughts of von Mises. The Signalman edition will help students navigate through the text using the hyperlinked Table of Contents, unlike the Evergreen edition, which was not formatted specifically for the Kindle.

This is a transformative work by von Mises. In the short time since I began reading I have come to a deeper understanding and appreciate the function and nature of money.

This is NOT light reading, but all the same it is fascinating. I found myself wanting to be back in school again, for no other reason than to have a professor and classmates to explore these ideas with, and to better develop my own understanding of the subject.

I have only two complaints, neither of which might really qualify as a complaint, since the original was written in German these is to be expected: first, most of the citations refer to the original German works. This makes it difficult for the English reader to cross-check citations and expand the reading list. However, thanks to the magic of Amazon, many of the cited authors are available in English. Second, von Mises assumes a very high level of understanding from his readers. Many of his ideas are built upon the work of others, and generally I found the background explanation a bit lacking (hence my want for a classroom environment). In all fairness, this book is so weighty that if he had ventured to give appropriate background for each element of support, the publishers might have been compelled to split the work into multiple volumes. The author rightly expects his readers to achieve a deep understanding of each supporting subject and and to research its origins on their own.

The Theory of Money and Credit is the foundation of modern Austrian Economics. The central contribution of this book is its application of marginal utility theory to money. Mises takes a micro-analytic approach to money that differs from the Hume-Fischer-Friedman Quantity Theory significantly. Of course there is some truth in the Quantity Theory. The Quantity Theory also teaches some lessons against inflation.

Mises set the groundwork for Austrian Business Cycle theory, as later developed by Hayek and Garrison. Both the Quantity Theory and the Mises-Hayek theory of trade cycles point to the same root cause: inflation. However, the Mises-Hayek theory explains trade cycles in terms of intertemporal dis-coordination. Hayek owes his Nobel Prize the groundbreaking work of Mises.

The Theory of Money and Credit also served as the basis for the calculation critique of socialism. Mises began to see the significance of monetary calculation in this book. The Austrian theories of the trade cycle and monetary calculation are the two main lines of modern Austrian research. These were the two critical debates of the Interwar Years. Also, Mises formulated his `Regression Theorem' in this book. Without this book, the modern Austrian paradigm would differ beyond recognition. Anyone who wants to learn Austrian economics should read this book.

Murray Newton Rothbard has been quoted as saying this book is THE best book ever written on Money & Credit. So having found Rothbard's writings to be outstanding in their own right, I moved on to this Mises classic!

The first thing to note is that this book was first published in 1912 and in German, and although the translation has been accomplished superbly, the style of writing has somewhat of an antequated feel to it; not quite the same free flowing prose you get with Rothbard. Once you get into the feel of it though, this in no way detracts from your understanding of the theory presented.

It has an excellent new Foreward by Rothbard himself, extensive footnoting and index and is hardbound beautifully by the Liberty Fund Press, with dust jacket. There is also a nice Appendix: On The Classification of Monetary Theories, that is very useful and informative.

The book itself is divided into four main Parts:
Part One: The Nature of Money.
Part Two: The Value of Money.
Part Three: Money and Banking.
Part Four: Monetary Reconstruction.(This part was added in 1952).

For me the book really took on a story of two halves. In the first half of the book, Parts 1 & 2, the bulk of the theory is really laid out. It can be slow going as it is extremely in depth but I highly recommend you stick with it as this pays off in the second half of the book!

In Part 3 Mises really starts putting flesh onto the theory when we get into Money & Banking proper with discussion of demand for money, credit, fiduciary paper, rate of interest etc. But towards the end in Chapters 19 & 20 things get MUCH more interesting as equilibrium rates and interest are discussed in detail and he finally talks about gold, the gold standard and banking freedom.

Part 4 is where my heart lies. Here we have the discussion of the principles of sound money versus contemporary currency systems. There's then an excellent discourse on the Return to Sound Money, ie the Classical Gold Standard.

The second half of this wonderful book certainly flowed better for me, but that may also be just because I am more of an investment manager/trader and less of an economist! You feel like you have had Mises teaching you in fine detail and that he has left no stone unturned in your understanding. Mises doesn't read as easily as the prose of Rothbard but that does not detract from the excellence of the material. Superb!

It really IS a truly outstanding work and if not the best book ever written on the subject, it surely has to be at the very least, one of the very best, and as such is certainly a "must-read"!!!

This wonderful, beautifully bound, classic is an absolute "steal" at $20. I still cannot believe it is sold for so little. My recommendation is to buy it while it is still available in this beautiful hardbound edition!

Enjoy!

Von Mises' "The Theory of Money and Credit" is a great work in theoretical economics. Its key insight is that money has an influence on the real economy.

Monetary financing of deficits leads to inflation, but this inflation is never proportional, that is variations in the money supply produce variations in relative prices and therefore have distributional consequences.

MV = PT is an identity. The 'V' reflects the money demand of individuals for whom a $ has a subjective value. What happens to PT is dependent on who how the new money will ripple through the economic system. Every change in the amount of money is different. Apart from subjective factors the velocity of circulation will depend on trends in population growth, the division of labour and financial innovation all of these tending to accelerate it over time.

A key price in any economy is the real interest rate. Within a stable monetary framework these would reflect time preference and the (perceived) profitability of investments. By artificially reducing the rate of interest investment booms are provoked by making longer processes of production seem more profitable than they are and when finally because of a intolerantly high rate of inflation the monetary growth is halted a sharp recession occurs, in which firms go bust and the some investments are liquidated. Hence business cycles.

In essence it a manifesto for sound-money which in Mises' view amounts to adopting the gold standard. Inflationary deficit finance is dishonest and arbitrary on people's incomes and should be replaced by explicit taxation.

Visa & Mastercard (a.k.a. MC) are one of the major success stories in the world. And why? Because Visa & MC, in many ways, redefined what "money" is. And they did so on a monumental scale the likes of which hasn't been seen in a long long time. In case it isn't clear, visa & mc are such a major success because they regulate the transactional behavior of the currency - forcing both sides to behave & act honorably. No other currency comes close to the elegance & "user friendliness" of visa or mc.

Why carry cash or checks if you can get a visa or mc? Lose a visa or mc? No problem if you exercise due diligence in reporting it lost/stolen (not the same with cash or checks unfortunately). Order something & it doesn't get delivered? No problem more often than not (with no attorney needed) when paid for with visa or mc, again as long as due diligence is exercised in reporting the problem (not the same with cash or checks unfortunately). The list of benefits associated with visa & mc "currency" over cash & checks goes on & on. Visa & mc are available today, everywhere.

Literally don't leave home without a visa or mc (the truth of that ad phrase is ridiculously deep).

This book is a fascinating read about the history and evolution of "plastic." The book recounts how the visions and innovations of a few revolutionized the world of banking and provides an interesting profile of Visa's rise to global success. Particularly interesting was the story of Visa pioneer and innovator, Dee Hock. Additionally, the historical look at San Francisco in the late 1800s and early 1900s, both in photos and text, was a real treat, especially for this East Coast transplant to the Bay Area. The photos and graphics of Visa's early advertisements are fun to see, especially the Visa "chicks" -- an ad concept that would not fly today. This is a compelling, educational, and even inspirational story -- it's a great read and should be a welcome addition to any coffee table or library.

This is a very impressive book on many fronts. The author obviously spent quality time with Visa's people and files, because the story he recounts is very human and absorbing. You read a lot about the ills of credit cards these days, but this book sheds new light on the value and impact of bank cards. The early chapters on A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America, show his passion for bringing banking services to immigrants and working people. The book tells how Giannini changed banking entirely and financed Hollywood, Walt Disney, the Golden Gate Bridge and the building of California. I know that Time Magazine named Giannini one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. His story gives nobility of purpose to the 1950s creation of BankAmericard that later became Visa, because it was an extension of putting capital into the hands of the people. Chutkow focuses on the human side of this unfolding drama and the real-life characters involved. I don't know of any previous book that has covered this story as well. I particularly liked the chapters on the shadowy world of fighting credit card fraud. His story about Visa's staff in Asia battling "6 Fingers," a crime ring boss, is worth the price of admission. Chutkow also reveals interesting inside stuff on Visa's sponsorships of the Olympics and its battles with MasterCard and American Express. Perhaps most impressive of all is the quiet role Visa has been playing in developing countries to create the payments systems that are fostering dramatic economic growth and social change. The takeaway impression is that Visa's pedigree truly is the card of the people. This is an excellent and beautifully presented book.

If you love to read books about the history of empires and success stories, you will love this! I currently work for Bank of America Bank Card Services (Visa) and I loved it. I knew a lot of the history, but there were a lot of things I didn't know.

It is a must read for anyone who works in this industry or has a card.

If you're looking for the more positive side of the Visa story, or of the impact of American Banking systems, this is a great start. Not a lot about statistical results and analysis, this is more of a story about the people side of building one of the largest global enterprises on the planet, and how that came about during the past 3 decades. Paul Chutkow is not a finanical analyst or banker, so he brings a fresh perspective to the story, and it's a very compelling read. This is also a story about leadership and vision, with the leading characted being Dee Hok. Paul Chutkow has captured many insights into the strategies in building Visa, and how the obstacles were overcome. The pictures of course are wonderful, and the historical views of many different phases of consumerism make this an important read for the student of payment systems. With the new dot-com startups of the day scratching their way in the markets, such as PayPal, BillPoint, and so many others, this book helps us develop a keener appreciation for the visionary and dramtic efforts of the 'fore-fathers' of the payments industry. I really enjoyed learning about the battles Dee Hok worked through to create that little start-up, to eventually be called Visa. The business development and marketing decisions in working with the International Olympic Committee are important for any marketer, and I was introduced to some important people in the the history of credit card fraud. I do recommend this book whole-heartedly, and I will be referring my asociates working in the payments and banking industries read it.

Many people have proposals for what should be done about education today. Few have looked into history to see what has been successful in the past. This book does that. Few have hard data to back up their theories. This book does. It cites more than one thousand authentic historical and statistical sources. Half of these are original documents (or translations thereof).

The bibliography alone is worth the price of this book. I had been searching for statistics on literacy, and I found so much more here! This book is not only an excellent survey of educational methods throughout history, but also a comprehensive list of sources for future research.

The author is biased toward completely privatized education, and in this book he explains why. He starts where democracy started, in Ancient Greece. Most of us have heard of Athens and Sparta. We know Spartans were dedicated warriors. We know they had to come home from war "with their shield or on it." We know the city state of Sparta was everything, and each individual citizen was dispensable.

We know that Athens, not Sparta, became the capitol in Greece's Golden Age. What I did not know before reading about it in this book was that Athens had no official school system, no regulation of teachers, and no required curriculum. Athenian teachers simply charged parents directly for educating their children. Each teacher specialized in a subject, and the parents simply chose teachers with good reputations who taught the subjects they wanted their children to know. Competition for students kept prices down. Some excellent teachers were wealthy and did not charge, notably Plato and Aristotle. The result of this free market education method was a city that became its country's leader in art, philosophy, and science.

This is but the first exploration in this timely book that examines what has worked in education. My BellaOnline School Reform Forum will be full of references to this book. So far it is the only one of its kind!

I have been doing research on what can be done about the sad state of public education. I read this 391 page book gripped by fascination. Any lover of history, ideas, civilization, or America should read this book. Why are our schools in serious decline? For some of the same reasons the Soviet Union collapsed. Andrew Coulson examines our current system of public education, and argues for revitalization through direct parental control. He looks at times in history when education has been free from state control, and shows that those have been some of the times of greatest cultural flourishing, such as Periclean Athens. He also looks at education in other countries, historically and currently. Public vs. private education in England, and Japan and the Netherlands are particularly of interest. He examines the history of American education, and dispells myths like the idea that people were illiterate until publicly funded education came along. The truth is that the literacy rate was much higher BEFORE Horace Mann first started promoting the idea of state schooling based on the Prussian military model of that time. Coulson also looks at constitutional questions, and deals with the legitimacy of government compelling belief. Anyone who supports the ailing status quo of public education is going to have to come to terms with the formidable research and persuasive arguments presented by Senior Research Associate and former softwear engineer, Andrew Coulson, who devoted four years to producing this book. They will also have to answer the other growing advocates of education liberation, among whom are Thomas Sowell (Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas) Stephen Arons (Compelling Belief: The Culture of American Schooling) and Sheldon Richman (The Separation of School and State). I salute Andrew Coulson as having done a magnificent job in writing this well documented and thoughtful study.

We know that our public schools are not providing the quality of education that they should. Market Education does an excellent job of analyzing what the problems with public education are and making thoughtful recommendations for how to improve it. The book should be required reading for anyone interested in improving our children's education.

An intriguing, highly original account of how government-funded schools have driven out superior private schooling, going back to the ancients and concluding with our failed U.S. schools of today. I haven't seen any other book that presents the history of this takeover of the educational market, and how harmful it has been to students in virtually every country and era in which it has occurred. Anyone interested in improving the education of children really needs to read this book. It's a compelling argument for school choice, and it's written in an appealing style by an author who is obviously passionate about his subject. My guess is that public school teachers will find this book particularly enlightening, since it explains a great deal of their frustration with bureaucracy getting in the way of educating kids. Coulson presents many suggestions for moving our educational system towards greater freedom for students, parents, and teachers.

I also recomend Murray Rothbard's "Education: Free and Compulsory" for in depth historical analysis of government involvement with education. Any politicians that truly give a darn should be reading these books. Democrats rhetoric about "helping the poor" is sickening when you realize how much government involvement in education has specifically hurt the poor.

This book represents the pinnacle in terms of a blend of behind-the-scenes insights and anecdotes combined with basic reference data. The multitude of interviews that went into the text give the material a depth that the more common coverage of sci-fi shows rarely attains. Like other books by McFarland, it's pricey, but I can think of none that give the reader better value for their dollar.

What makes this guide especially fascinating are the numerous candid in-depth interviews with the producers and writers of these shows, giving much insight into the creative process and the trials and tribulations of creating innovative television shows. There are countless behind-the-scenes anecdotes that have, I am sure, never seen print before. I thought I knew a lot about certain shows, but this book contained info that was new to me; and even reading the articles about shows I never watched (and the entries on each show are long and detailed) I could scarcely put the book down. This book serves as a reference, but it is more than that; it has a wealth of fascinating insights into the television industry itself.

From my own column (ex of Mania Magazine), Andy Mangels' Hollywood Heroes:

If you're a fan of science fiction television history, there is one indispensable book you must have in your collection. Science Fiction Television Series is subtitled "Episode Guides, Histories, and Cast and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 through 1989." It's written by Mark Phillips and Frank Garcia, both well-known writers for magazines like Starlog and Cinefantastique. Kenneth Johnson, producer/creator of V, The Incredible Hulk, Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Alien Nation, and more, contributed the introduction.

The hardcover book is a whopping 691 pages (!), and has photos throughout. Each series is given a historical overview, with interviews for the writers, producers, actors, cameramen, and more! Plus, you get an episode guide with correct titles, guest star information, and trivia. I've had this book on my shelf for a few months, and besides using it for research, I'm immensely entertained browsing through its pages.

What are some of the shows covered? Alien Nation, Auto Man, Captain Power, Cliffhangers, Greatest American Hero, Kolchak the Night Stalker, Logan's Run, Man From Atlantis, Misfits Of Science, Planet of the Apes, Quantum Leap, Spiderman, Starman, Star Trek, Superboy, Twilight Zone (all three series), V, Voyager, and Wonder Woman. And that's just to name a few! Plus, appendixes cover unsold SF pilots, and Emmy Award nominees and winners.

It's unlikely you'll find Science Fiction Television Series in your stores, as it's a specialty book largely aimed at researchers and libraries. It's well worth the price!

Once again, this gets my highest recommendation.

One of the most fascinating 'episode guides ' that has come on the market , a must have for any one associated or fan of the SF genre. An upto date episode guide / summary with an added bonus of interviews , with key actors directors of many favourite sf shows.

It's past time that someone put some thought and effort into a book of this nature. We've had "Science Fiction TV" guides before, and they've uniformly been written by authors whose axes could be heard grinding away throughout as they slagged shows they disliked and drooled over shows they (often unaccountably) were fans of. Mark Phillips and Frank Garcia have done a good job of research and writing here, with few and minor mistakes. The chapter on "Battlestar Galactica," which is accurate and contains a good deal of information, much of it from new interviews done especially for this book, is worth the price of admission alone. If you're a fan of science fiction on TV, this book, in spite of its price, should be on your bookshelf. Very highly recommended.

I was inspired and amazed at the simplicity of Yunus's concept, and appalled at the resistance he met putting it into action.
It started when he found that 42 villagers were being kept in thrall -- literally bonded slavery -- to moneylenders in one village. The total sum they owed was $27. Yunus put his hand into his own pocket, and the system of microcredit was born. THEN came the long, long, attempt to get other sponsors, government help, and a lot more.
By the end of the book they have branched out into cooperatives, health care, cell-phone providers, and the internet. As he says, no US businessman would even consider operating without a telephone.... but there is criticism that "The rural poor do not need the luxury of a telephone." But telephones help the micro-borrowers improve their businesses and find the best markets for their products. So Yunus's bank, Grameen, created GremeenPhone to provide service to villages. Some villages didn't have electricity, so they then created a nonprofit company dedicated to developing wind turbines, solar energy, etc! Just one example of Yunus's progressive thinking and nothing-is-too-tough attitude!
Not in the book, but it's inspiring to see how Yunus's idea has caught on in other parts of the world. There's even a US organization, Kiva, which allows people to extend loans over the internet to individual small businesses in far-flung countries. This is an idea that has to grow.

Very small amounts of capital loaned to people who have almost none yield very large returns. Loans are coupled with requirement that borrowers form groups of five borrowers to support and encourage each other, thereby building community. Bank is owned by the borrowers. Concept becoming worldwide movement called micro-lending. Entrepreneurship and access to credit as a cure for poverty. Great book by the guy who started it all with a $27 loan.

Banker to the Poor is an excellent read. The style is very easy to understand, and the jumps Yunus makes between different stories, ideas, and theories keep the reader's interest throughout. However, much more so that the style, the story itself is remarkable: to see how a single idea of one man could become a global force against poverty. His example has been extremely influential for millions of people, and his pursuit of a poverty-free world no longer seems outrageous, but in fact attainable! The story was enough for me to want to change my career direction to help the microcredit revolution.

Muhammad Yunus describes in this book how the idea developed about starting a bank for the poor. The writing style of Yunus makes the book very easy to read; almost like a good novel. Because this book doesn't focusses on just micro-credit (because it's an autobiography) I think it's an excellent introduction to the topic of micro-credit and finding sollutions for the poor. But for more in-dept info, buy another.

Sidney Homer delivers what he promised - a lengthy and extremely detailed history of interest rates. Almost completely absent is any commentary on why interest rates have changed through history. Any observations of cause and effect are left up to the reader to discern. But as a pure history text, the book is readable and thorough both in breadth and depth.

This exceptionally written, highly readable volume, written by a true pioneer in bond trading and fixed income research, covers interest rate trends and lending practices spanning over four millennia of economic history. Despite the paucity of data prior to the Industrial Revolution, the book manages to present a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. A History of Interest Rates seeks to provide a helicopter perspective of interest rate movements, avoiding anecdotal indications if possible and applying analytical tools such as yield curves and decennial averaging of the available data.

Homer asserts that "the free market long-term rates of interest for any industrial nation, properly charted, provide a sort of fever chart of the economic and political health of that nation." Given the unprecedented rise in asset price volatility and the emergence of extraordinary inflation rates during twentieth-century episodes of economic distress--occurrences which were nearly imponderable during the nineteenth century--it would seem that we are now living in times of eschatological excess, which is actually one of the understated themes in this book's third edition.

This book should be part of the library of every investment analyst, together with such finance classics as Graham and Dodd's Security Analysis and Lefevre's Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.

Financial assets grow in value with the passage of time. For debt, we call this "interest", and for equity, we call it "yield". Homer's book is the superbly recorded history of this phenomenon. Perhaps its greatest value is that when you hear or read a new theory, you can assess its validity by comparing the theory's implications with the historical evidence.

Many might say that a book of this subject matter would be incredibly dry and boring. But if one reads it from cover to cover, as was the case for this reviewer, one will find it to be packed with fascinating information and insights on almost three thousand years of financial history. Nearly every culture and geography is represented as the authors take the reader on a roller coaster ride over the hills and valleys of lending policies and usury in both private and public contexts. There are many surprises for the reader who is unaware of the great impact that interest rates can have on human activities, including war and pestilence, but also human discovery and adventure. For the serious researcher, there are also a multitude of tables and graphs, illustrating the behavior of interest rate time series for different cultures and governments throughout history.

The scale of importance of interest rates in the modern world is staggering if compared with the historical periods that are discussed in this book. Indeed, and this is brought out by the authors, interest rates in their words are "watched like a hawk", and millions of dollars are spent every year in interest rate modeling and analysis of fixed income securities such as bonds and mortgage-backed financial instruments. All investors, no matter which sector of the market they are involved in, have to monitor very closely the trends in interest rates.

The magnitude of interest rates can enable wars to be fought and lost, as is brought out brilliantly in this book. Legal philosophies and developments have also guided humans as to what is considered just compensation for lending, with rates in some cultures considered to be astronomical as compared to others. And the authors show that there have been periods where lending has barely occurred at all, with progress in such periods taking as expected a back seat. One cannot grow and flourish without taking risk, and lending risk is measured with the level of interest rates and their volatilities.

Many might say that economic and financial history cannot be romanticized. After all, economics is supposed to be the "dismal science". The authors do not intend to present such a romantic view, but they do so inadvertently perhaps. With all the conflicts that have been waged because of financial competition, with most of these conflicts being horrifying and in some cases completely destructive to the societies that waged them, lending encapsulates the need for humans to plan for the future. It exemplifies the attitude that the future holds promise, and solidifies a level of trust between borrower and lender. It allows both parties to assess their current position with what it will be in the future. And of course it is an axiom that it is always infinitely preferable to exchange coins rather than bullets.

We are in a golden age of typeface design. Modern software and the world wide web have made it easier than ever to design and distribute new and original typefaces at a rate that could not have been dreamed of in days previous. As Tracy notes in his final comments for the book, what should have been beneficial for the art of typeface design has instead brought on a glut of poorly designed and soporific typefaces. Little thought is given to good design or to obtaining the knowledge that is needed to produce such design. Though Tracy's book is dated (nearly 20 years old) it is as important now, perhaps even more so now, than it was when it was first written.

Letters of Credit is at once a history of modern typeface design and an introduction to the principles of good design. The book centers primarily on what is called the "body typeface," i.e. typefaces used for book/newspaper/magazine printing. As with any art, the student needs to learn the rules before he or she goes about breaking them. Conscious breaking of the rules is a sign of mastery, while breaking them out of ignorance is the sign of a poor artist.

Tracy takes us through what makes up a good typeface. The text is never so technical that the beginning student becomes lost. What makes up a good italic? What about numbers? What makes a good letter S? Which bar should be longer in the letter E? It is all here. The book is well illustrated with many black and white illustrations of the many typefaces he critiques. Tracy not only gives us what makes up a good typeface but shows us the pitfalls that can drag a good typeface down to a mediocre one. One of the most interesting aspects of the first half of the book is a system of letter fitting that Tracy devised in order to find the proper fitting for each glyph of the font that the designer is working on. For that alone, the book is well worth the price.

The second part of the book is a survey of some of the great names in modern typeface design and a critique of some of their greatest creations. Such typographic luminaries as Jan van Krimpen, Fredric Goudy, Rudolf Koch, W. A. Dwiggins and Stanley Morrison are included. Tracy speaks with the authority that only experience brings as he talks about these great typographers and their creations. His critiques in this section of the book are an education unto themselves on what makes up good typeface design. Bottom line, if you are interested in typeface design, even if your interest lies more in display typefaces, this book belongs on your shelf. You cannot help but come away from this book without taking with you a better idea of what makes up good typeface design.

Typesetting has evolved from a hands-on metalworking skill to one generated by photos and computers - and the changing methods shows no signs of stability. Walter Tracy's Letters Of Credit: A View Of Type Design traces the movement from hot metal production to computers, arguing the letter forms themselves are always in a state of flux, no matter what their delivery system. Tracy has fifty years of professional experience as head of type design: his analysis criticizes type-design aesthetics and identifies common elements of hype and misinformation in the industry.

Walter Tracy's "Letters of Credit" is a classic book on the construction of letterforms and typefaces. It includes historical information on each of the type families and designers it examines. The chapter that discusses the correct spacing of letters is a classic. Highly recommended to anyone with a strong interest in typeface design (along with Alexander Lawson's "Anatomy of a Typeface").

Walter Tracy was successor to Stanley Morison, at least in advising the London Times and in opinionated personality. In this volume, he bridges much of the gap from Morison's writings on typography up to today's practice.

There's a lot of good technical content here, almost all of it regarding nuances of letterforms and design of type faces. He offers some interesting history, as well, from the turn of the century up to about the 1950s.

Among other type designers, he describes Rudolf Koch, best known for Kabel. As presented here, Koch was the first type designer to bridge the gap between the blackletter German alphabets and the Latin letters used elsewhere in Europe, to the advantage of both traditions. Tracy also spends a fair bit of time on Frederick Goudy. Goudy is certainly worth study, for both his succcesses and his less graceful work. Tracy seems to focus on the latter - his description of Goudy reads like a left-handed compliment in essay form.

Tracy was active from the hot-lead days, through photo typesetting, and into the early electronic era. He notes the advantages and weaknesses in each technology, as of when the book was written. Digital technology has progressed since then. Scanning has almost granted his wish that ".. vectorising is an automatic process ... [so] designers' work can be reproduced directly and with complete fidelity." Electronic design has also somewhat invalidated his claim that "the method of manufacture has [little] influence on the design of type." Frere-Jones' Reactor font is one among those that could never have appeared in metal. Also, the punchcutter's craft acted as an engraved metal barrier to entry into type design. With that barrier gone, amateur type design has come into its own (for better or worse).

The personality, the history, and the commentary on type design all make this a worthwhile book. It won't help the beginner much, and deals only with typographic issues at the level of letterforms and letter spacing. Still, it's a view worth seeing.

Schumpeter had an expression that intuitively sums up in a few choice words quite a few of the theoretical concepts of J M Keynes and the empirical/statistical breakthroughs of Benoit Mandelbrot.Unfortunately,Schumpeter lacked the technical training in mathematics,statistics and probability that he needed in order to give a rigorous exposition of his intellectual and intuitive discoveries.Those few choice words are"regular irregularity".Looking at the data available to him early in the 20th century,Schumpeter was able to categorically argue ,correctly ,that price movements over time in different markets and changes in investment over the business cycle could NOT be modeled by assuming that a normal probability distribution could be applied.Schumpeter was the first economist to make a clearcut distinction between risk(applying a normal probability distribution with a stable mean and variance(standard deviation))and uncertainty.Uncertainty would automatically arise over time due to the regular irregularity of constant(nonconstant)technological innovation,change and advance over time.It is quite easy to see that Mandelbrot's nonparametric two variable constructs, measuring discontinuity and short run/long run persistence/dependence(as opposed to the normal distributions assumptions of continuity and independence),are described by Schumpeter's"regular irregularity".Unfortunately,instead of breaking with the classical and neoclassical schools of economics,as both Keynes and Mandelbrot did,Schumpeter decided to remain a loyal soldier,downplaying his severe disagreements.This was Schumpeter's great error.He recognized the severe limitations of the standard price adjustment equilibrium demand and supply analysis,but went along anyway.The potential reader will find chapter 6 of Schumpeter's book alone to be worth the price of admission needed to obtain access to Schumpeter's brilliant breakthroughs.

In this important book Schumpeter explains the ECONOMIC origins of business cycles. In a convincing way Schumpeter argues that business cycles are inevitable in a developing economy.

This does not mean that there are no other causes of business fluctuations such as changes in commercial policy, wars, inflationary government finance or panics. But these constitute non-economic data and cannot be explained by economic theory.

Conventional macroeconomic theory tends to explain business cycles by some kind of error and focus on correcting this error either by active policy or by advocating a hands-off policy. In this view business cycles have no function.

In a stationary ,non-developing economy (i.e. absence of innovations) there would be very little uncertainty. If you and your competitors have been selling essentially the same product in the same market year in year out and if this were to apply to all products and services would there be any economic risk (fires, epidemics and tax increases are non-economic data) left ? Were there any true economic causes, i.e. causes that economics can explain, of business cycles in the Dark Ages ?

There is still something to be said for Keynesian theory (although not for policy) in that uncertainty does influence investment decisions and that because of uncertainty in a monetary economy some hoarding of purchasing power does occur. But these are mere symptoms of underlying endogenous business cycles caused by the inflationary investment booms - "animal spirits" if you like - invoked by the swarms of innovating firms, e.g. the internet bubble, and the deflationary busts that follow when the old firms die off and yesterday's innovators become part of the stationary cycle. Schumpeter explains the origins of economic uncertainty.

What Schumpeter teaches us is that booms and recessions are necessary phenomena in developing economies, that can't be removed or corrected if we are not to thwart the creation of new wealth by innovation. Recessions are the price we pay for long term economic growth. However, recessions can lead to unnecessary panics that cause unnecessary harm to the economy. Here governments or central banks are able to, and should in my view, correct.

I hope you enjoyed this review and welcome any comments.

The Theory of Economic Development represents a high point in the history of economic science. Schumpeter had a clear understanding of the difference between static and dynamic issues in economics, and an appropriate appreciation of the latter. This book also shows how advanced Schumpeter's thinking was. On page 10 Schumpeter appears to anticipate the modern definition of economics- 20 years before Robbins wrote his Nature and Significance of Economic Science (was this in the original edition, or just in my 1934 reprint?). Chapter one sorts out Say's Law of Markets in detail, and explains its static nature. Chapter two explains economic development in correct dynamic terms (unlike the pseudo-dynamics of Neoclassical growth theory). Schumpeter is able to explain dynamics because he examines entrepreneurship (and vice versa). Schumpeter also leaves room for real institutions, especially financial markets.

I can honestly say that I learned some new and important things from reading this book, despite the facts that I have a PhD in economics and took my first economics class 21 years ago. Unfortunately, most economists would learn more from reading this book than I. This is a sad commentary on the current state of affairs in economics. Schumpeter was interested in matters of great consequence and thought about them deeply. There is simply no comparison between Schumpeter's insightful analysis and the tedious and purely imaginary intellectual constructs of Solow influenced math modelers. There is a clear difference between Schumpeter's analysis and the intellectual gymnastics of modern mathurbationists. Schumpeter was a true professional.

I was somewhat surprised by the extent to which Schumpeter's ideas fit with the ideas of Mises, Kirzner, and Lachmann. Schumpeter is often seen as an Austrian born Walrasian instead of as an Austrian economist in the Menger-Mises-Hayek tradition. There are clear Austrian influences on Schumpeter's thinking, though he was not a Mises clone. I was already impressed with Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Schumpeter was a true genius, and an economist on par with Ricardo and Hayek. Read this book to learn some development economics, and a little intellectual history too.

This book provides a useful corrective to some of the shortcomings of the so-called Austrian theory of Capital and the Business Cycle. Schumpeter, who studied under the great Austrian economists Bohm-Bawerk, was too much of an independent thinker to be part of an economic movement or school. The Theory of Economic Development is his declaration of independence from Austrian capital theory. In the book, he introduces a theory of development and the business cycle that shocked his more orthodox colleagues. Economic development, Schumpeter argues, involves transferring capital from old businesses using established methods of production to businesses using new, innovative methods. Schumpeter's special insight comes in trying to explain how the transfer of capital from the old to the new takes place. Schumpeter argued that it takes place through credit expansion. Through the fractional reserve system, banks are able to create credit, quite literally out of thin air. This money is lent to businesses specializing in new methods of production, who then bid up the price of production goods and consumer goods in their effort to pay for the production goods they require. Thus a form of inflationary spoliation takes place at the expense of established businesses and consumers. Although Schumpeter does not draw the spoliation inference from his theory, it is nonetheless there in the text for all who can see. Credit expansion is a form of spoliation, a form of robbery hardly distinguishable from counterfeiting. But what is unique about the capitalist engine of production is how it uses spoliation in the service of progress. And not merely spoliation through credit expansion, but spoliation through protectionism, stock manipulation, corporate welfare, cartels and monopolies, and outright fraud and manipulation. Schumpeter's book sheds light on just one aspect of this spoliation, and from this stems the book's vital importance to economic theory.

An award-winning science teacher and science fair judge, Janice VanCleave took copious notes about criteria shared among the very best exhibits. This book details the winners by explaining how and why to replicate results, without spoiling the journey of discovery inherent to each project. Its beauty is in harnessing the enthusiastic yet un-focused student to pinpoint a broad area of interest, creating a project using the Scientific Method applicable to a dozen Earth Science specific topics.
The entire book is a winner, helping students design a project using the Scientific Method but also to communicate those results in a clearly visual manner on 3-sided Foam-Core Project Board. Presentation is critical: a brilliant project may be wasted if its intricacies completely escape the viewer. Ms VanCleave shows how to navigate the 'marketing' portion of the board in addition to keeping a strictly scientific approach to recording data.
Recommend this book to fifth grade children and up. It is worth every penny, especially if you have more than one child in school at a time.

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