Adam Fergusson

Adam Fergusson, born in Scotland in 1932, graduated in history at Cambridge, was a journalist with the Glasgow Herald, the Statist and The Times. He has been a Member of the European Parliament, a Special Adviser at the Foreign Office, and a consultant on European affairs for international industry and commerce. He has written five books, including three novels; many articles and pamphlets; the book and lyrics of three musical comedies; and much light verse. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Now a widower with four children and thirteen grandchildren, he lives in London.

When Money Dies, written in 1975, was out of print for 30 years; yet had never ceased to be quoted on both sides of the Atlantic. The book is well-known to financial commentators – and in that it has been on the reading lists of economic students for decades, it has become something of a classic. Its republication was long overdue.

At a time when many developed economies are teetering on the brink of financial collapse, the book provides once more an urgent warning against the addictive dangers of the unlimited printing of money – shorthand for deficit financing – as a soft option for governments faced with growing unrest and unemployment.

Its relevance is continuous, because it deals specifically with the human side of inflation - why governments resort to it, the dismal, corruptive pestilence it visits on their citizens, the agonies of recovery, and the dark, long-term legacy. This progression is well illustrated by reference to the most spectacular monetary failure ever experienced in Europe.