We Need to Talk About Inflation: 14 Urgent Lessons from the Last 2,000 Years

A FINANCIAL TIMES “BOOK TO READ IN 2023”

“Everything you wanted to know about inflation but were afraid to ask.”—Mervyn King

“King’s lessons command our attention.”—Lawrence H. Summers

“Maybe you don’t think inflation is back for good. That is your right. But you’d be advised to read this book first.”—Stephanie Flanders

From investors and monetary authorities to governments and policy makers, almost everyone had assumed inflation was dead and buried. But now people the world over are confronting a poisonous new economic reality and, with it, the prospect of vast and increasing wealth inequality.

How have we arrived in this situation? And what, if anything, can we do about it?

Celebrated economist Stephen D. King—one of the few to warn ahead of time about the latest inflationary upheaval—identifies key lessons from the history of inflation that policy makers chose not to heed. From ancient Rome through the American Civil War and up to the asset bubbles of today, inflation stems from policy error, sovereign greed, and a collective loss of faith in currencies.

We Need to Talk About Inflation cuts through centuries of bad judgment and misunderstanding, offering a means to intervene now—so we can begin to tackle the political and social upheaval unleashed by inflation.

Stephen D. King is senior economic adviser at HSBC, is a columnist for the Evening Standard, and has also been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee. He is the author of Losing Control, When the Money Runs Out, and Grave New World.