Untaught History of Money

Untaught History of Money by A. N. Field presents a critical history of money, banking, credit, and debt, arguing that the monetary system cannot be understood without examining the power created by control over currency and bank credit. Beginning with what Field calls the “honest king’s money” of earlier centuries, the pamphlet traces the transition from gold and silver coinage to banking systems capable of lending money created through credit. Field examines the rise of the Bank of England, the development of the gold standard, financial crises and depressions, wartime finance, public debt, and the abandonment of gold, contending that monetary contraction and expansion have repeatedly produced profound economic and social consequences.