Comments on: The Mystery of Banking http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html Personal Tax and Financial Banking Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:58:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bill Julian http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html/comment-page-1#comment-2036 Bill Julian Tue, 25 May 2010 05:02:42 +0000 http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html#comment-2036 The state can tax you now, or borrow and tax your children, or it can inflate the money supply, use the new money first and rob you of the purchasing power of your savings. The third alternative is a favorite of the state. This book makes it plain that there has always been an unholy alliance between banks and the state. The events of 2008 were nothing new, and the piddly legislation that congress is bantering about doesn't even come close to "making sure this won't happen again." On the contrary, it is almost a certainty that it will happen again and again until we return to sound money and banking. Rating: 5 / 5 The state can tax you now, or borrow and tax your children, or it can inflate the money supply, use the new money first and rob you of the purchasing power of your savings. The third alternative is a favorite of the state. This book makes it plain that there has always been an unholy alliance between banks and the state. The events of 2008 were nothing new, and the piddly legislation that congress is bantering about doesn’t even come close to “making sure this won’t happen again.” On the contrary, it is almost a certainty that it will happen again and again until we return to sound money and banking.
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Scott E. Regener http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html/comment-page-1#comment-2035 Scott E. Regener Tue, 25 May 2010 04:44:28 +0000 http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html#comment-2035 The first 100 pages of this book read like a review of standard Austrian theory on things like price theory when it comes to money. I've read better explanations from Ludwig von Mises. However, beginning with the chapter on Loan Banking, Rothbard's work comes into its own, demystifying modern banking. If you ever wondered why there is a business cycle or how bank runs work, this is the book for you. Unlike most modern writers, his book builds upon itself - it is all one long argument with each chapter depending on the one before to establish its arguments. Skimming is not recommended. <br /> <br />The serious flaw deals with free banking, his ideal model. In the main text, he provides Scotland in the early 1800s as his only real-world example. Then, in an appendix, he admits that he was duped by poor research and that the Scottish system was not free after all. Fine and good, but he does not then provide a better example to prove his hypothesis. One is left to assume that free banking has either never been tried (quite likely) or never worked in the way his theories suggest. <br /> <br />This book is especially timely with the recent financial issues facing the US. Rating: 4 / 5 The first 100 pages of this book read like a review of standard Austrian theory on things like price theory when it comes to money. I’ve read better explanations from Ludwig von Mises. However, beginning with the chapter on Loan Banking, Rothbard’s work comes into its own, demystifying modern banking. If you ever wondered why there is a business cycle or how bank runs work, this is the book for you. Unlike most modern writers, his book builds upon itself – it is all one long argument with each chapter depending on the one before to establish its arguments. Skimming is not recommended.

The serious flaw deals with free banking, his ideal model. In the main text, he provides Scotland in the early 1800s as his only real-world example. Then, in an appendix, he admits that he was duped by poor research and that the Scottish system was not free after all. Fine and good, but he does not then provide a better example to prove his hypothesis. One is left to assume that free banking has either never been tried (quite likely) or never worked in the way his theories suggest.

This book is especially timely with the recent financial issues facing the US.
Rating: 4 / 5

]]> By: Michael Tozer http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html/comment-page-1#comment-2034 Michael Tozer Tue, 25 May 2010 04:09:23 +0000 http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html#comment-2034 Murray Rothbard writes clearly and yet with a technician's precise knowledge of the operation of money and banking. This book should be read by any who truly desire to understand these important aspects of the ecoonomy. And, oh, by the way, you don't really have to fork over $98 bucks for this important book. Resourceful readers can locate it for free online. Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Rating: 5 / 5 Murray Rothbard writes clearly and yet with a technician’s precise knowledge of the operation of money and banking. This book should be read by any who truly desire to understand these important aspects of the ecoonomy. And, oh, by the way, you don’t really have to fork over $98 bucks for this important book. Resourceful readers can locate it for free online. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html/comment-page-1#comment-2033 Anonymous Tue, 25 May 2010 01:53:44 +0000 http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html#comment-2033 I found this book to be the most interesting and revealing book I have ever read about the banking system and the Federal Reserve. Rothbard has a very different perspective than most conventional economists, but his explanations are very clear and compelling. He explains how fractional reserve banking makes banks inherently prone to bankruptcy, how the Federal Reserve and other central banks create inflation, and how money has evolved and been debased. Gene Epstein, the Barron's columnist, recently recommended The Mystery of Banking as the best book to read for anyone interested in understanding how our banking system works. Rating: 5 / 5 I found this book to be the most interesting and revealing book I have ever read about the banking system and the Federal Reserve. Rothbard has a very different perspective than most conventional economists, but his explanations are very clear and compelling. He explains how fractional reserve banking makes banks inherently prone to bankruptcy, how the Federal Reserve and other central banks create inflation, and how money has evolved and been debased. Gene Epstein, the Barron’s columnist, recently recommended The Mystery of Banking as the best book to read for anyone interested in understanding how our banking system works.
Rating: 5 / 5

]]> By: Jeff http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html/comment-page-1#comment-2032 Jeff Tue, 25 May 2010 01:21:56 +0000 http://www.taxbanking.com/the-mystery-of-banking.html#comment-2032 I just finished reading this book and found that it filled in many inconsistencies that I have noted in my mainstream economic study. The author explains clearly and concisely the origins of and money and its importance to any economic system. He proceeds to describe the evolution of banking to its current inflationary state. He clearly shows that this inflationary states results from a combination of fractional reserve banking, the government's grant of monopoly powers through a cental bank (the U.S. Federal Reserve in the case of the U.S.), and the central banks open market operations to manipulate bank reserves (e.g., monetizing debt). Finally, Rothbard makes it clear that the banking industry's inflationary policies are beneficial to the banking industry itself and leave the reader no doubt that this industry has a vested interest in the status-quo. Rating: 5 / 5 I just finished reading this book and found that it filled in many inconsistencies that I have noted in my mainstream economic study. The author explains clearly and concisely the origins of and money and its importance to any economic system. He proceeds to describe the evolution of banking to its current inflationary state. He clearly shows that this inflationary states results from a combination of fractional reserve banking, the government’s grant of monopoly powers through a cental bank (the U.S. Federal Reserve in the case of the U.S.), and the central banks open market operations to manipulate bank reserves (e.g., monetizing debt). Finally, Rothbard makes it clear that the banking industry’s inflationary policies are beneficial to the banking industry itself and leave the reader no doubt that this industry has a vested interest in the status-quo.
Rating: 5 / 5

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