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By Adam Fergusson: When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany
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Published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 5, 2024
I thought I would like this book a lot more than I did. The story goes on and on about how things get out of control, continually telling you about the exchange rate to the British Pound. It is difficult to follow at times. Regardless still think this is a must read for any Bitcoiner. Interesting to see how the middle class is destroyed through inflation.
"On April 27, 1921, the Reparations Commission fixed Germany's total liability at 132,000 million gold marks, equivalent to 6,600 million British Pounds. The problem before the London conference was how, and over what period, that enormous sum should be paid. It was decided that Germany was to be asked to pay 2,000 million gold marks - 100 million Pounds - a year and , in addition, a sum equal to 26% of her exports; and these terms were conveyed to Berlin accompanied by the threat of further sanctions - namely the occupation of the Ruhr which the French were pressing for - if compliance did not come within a week."
"Anyone who was alive to the realities of inflation, he said, could safeguard himself against losses in paper currency by buying assets which would maintain their value: houses, real estate, manufactured goods, raw materials and so forth."
"The whole extraordinary depreciation of the mark has naturally created a rapidly increasing demand for additional currency, which the Reichsbank has not always been fully able to satisfy. A simplified production of notes of large denominations (including printing on one side only) enabled us to bring ever greater amounts into circulation. But these enormous sums are barley adequate to cover the vastly increased demand for the means of payment, which has just recently attained an absolute fantastic level, especially as a result of the extraordinary increase in wages and salaries."
"The important considerations are that Hitler and the Nazi party were able to shamelessly and facilely to use the miseries inherent in a severe inflationary situation to drum up nation-wide opposition to authority and to persuade many thousands of people that the fault and the blame lie directly in many places where it palpably did not; with the men who had signed the Armistice, with the French, with the Jews, with the Bolshevists. Inflation played into Hitler's hands, and was not more the invention of the Communists, who were also taking advantage of the social wreckage it was causing, than f the Hitler and Nazis."
"Money is no more than a medium of exchange. Only when it has a value acknowledged by more than one person can it be used. The more general the acknowledgement, the more useful it is. Once no one acknowledges it, the Germans learnt, their paper money had no value or use - save for papering walls or making darts. The discovery which shattered their society was that the traditional repository of purchasing power had disappeared, and that there was no means left of measuring the worth of anything."
"On April 27, 1921, the Reparations Commission fixed Germany's total liability at 132,000 million gold marks, equivalent to 6,600 million British Pounds. The problem before the London conference was how, and over what period, that enormous sum should be paid. It was decided that Germany was to be asked to pay 2,000 million gold marks - 100 million Pounds - a year and , in addition, a sum equal to 26% of her exports; and these terms were conveyed to Berlin accompanied by the threat of further sanctions - namely the occupation of the Ruhr which the French were pressing for - if compliance did not come within a week."
"Anyone who was alive to the realities of inflation, he said, could safeguard himself against losses in paper currency by buying assets which would maintain their value: houses, real estate, manufactured goods, raw materials and so forth."
"The whole extraordinary depreciation of the mark has naturally created a rapidly increasing demand for additional currency, which the Reichsbank has not always been fully able to satisfy. A simplified production of notes of large denominations (including printing on one side only) enabled us to bring ever greater amounts into circulation. But these enormous sums are barley adequate to cover the vastly increased demand for the means of payment, which has just recently attained an absolute fantastic level, especially as a result of the extraordinary increase in wages and salaries."
"The important considerations are that Hitler and the Nazi party were able to shamelessly and facilely to use the miseries inherent in a severe inflationary situation to drum up nation-wide opposition to authority and to persuade many thousands of people that the fault and the blame lie directly in many places where it palpably did not; with the men who had signed the Armistice, with the French, with the Jews, with the Bolshevists. Inflation played into Hitler's hands, and was not more the invention of the Communists, who were also taking advantage of the social wreckage it was causing, than f the Hitler and Nazis."
"Money is no more than a medium of exchange. Only when it has a value acknowledged by more than one person can it be used. The more general the acknowledgement, the more useful it is. Once no one acknowledges it, the Germans learnt, their paper money had no value or use - save for papering walls or making darts. The discovery which shattered their society was that the traditional repository of purchasing power had disappeared, and that there was no means left of measuring the worth of anything."
October 1, 2023
Key things this book says are as follows.
Local currency value is the value of confidence in that currency unless it is backed by gold and most modern currency are not back by gold.
So the lesson are as below that in effect this book as said to me.
Own a farm land, own gold and lots of it in more than one country if possible. Have one feet in many countries with access to account in those countries in those countries currency. Also if possible have a passport access to ensure easy access that if needed one can flee to any one of those countries.
For this books say that no matter how bad you think it can get, it can get far worse than one can imagine and the worse of a society will come out to play and the worse of people will come out and no matter how high you are in society or how low one is in society what you thought was possible will far exceed one imagination.
The bottom line is that people will effectively come to their most basic instincts and the strong and ruthless will take power.
For me the books says that something is only worth what people are willing to pay for it.
Example the books gave is something like this: A very expensive piano was sold for a few items of food. So money value is just and illusionary and that need confidences from all that use it until it no more.
Local currency value is the value of confidence in that currency unless it is backed by gold and most modern currency are not back by gold.
So the lesson are as below that in effect this book as said to me.
Own a farm land, own gold and lots of it in more than one country if possible. Have one feet in many countries with access to account in those countries in those countries currency. Also if possible have a passport access to ensure easy access that if needed one can flee to any one of those countries.
For this books say that no matter how bad you think it can get, it can get far worse than one can imagine and the worse of a society will come out to play and the worse of people will come out and no matter how high you are in society or how low one is in society what you thought was possible will far exceed one imagination.
The bottom line is that people will effectively come to their most basic instincts and the strong and ruthless will take power.
For me the books says that something is only worth what people are willing to pay for it.
Example the books gave is something like this: A very expensive piano was sold for a few items of food. So money value is just and illusionary and that need confidences from all that use it until it no more.
January 5, 2026
I had a hard time with this book. I thought it would be more of a history book that sets the table of what was going on at the time. I'm not that familiar with Germany right after WWI (which was why I was reading it!) and it seems like prior knowledge was needed for a lot of the things he covered.
That said, the gist I got was the rampant money printing (when they actually had to print bills) was causing inflation, although central bankers and politicians all denied that was the cause. Add on top of that: the reparations Germany was required to pay (and couldn't), massive strikes that would result in wage increases to keep up with price hikes (and required more money printing), and every political faction (communists, socialists, etc.) taking advantage of the chaos to try and grab control.
That said, the gist I got was the rampant money printing (when they actually had to print bills) was causing inflation, although central bankers and politicians all denied that was the cause. Add on top of that: the reparations Germany was required to pay (and couldn't), massive strikes that would result in wage increases to keep up with price hikes (and required more money printing), and every political faction (communists, socialists, etc.) taking advantage of the chaos to try and grab control.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews