The Austrian School: Money, Credit and Cycles
Trader's Library #94 · Money, macro and economics. The Austrian perspective on money and cycles, for a trader as macro background.
Author: Hayek, Huerta de Soto, Hazlitt, Mises, Menger, Machlup, Hülsmann, Baader, Callahan, Holcombe, Kirzner, Aubrey · Original: incl. Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles; Economics in One Lesson; Denationalisation of Money · Year: 1936 · Usefulness for traders: ★★☆☆☆
What it's about
A large group of Austrian economics books, including Hayek (on money and crises, “Denationalisation of Money”, “The Road to Serfdom”), Huerta de Soto (“Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles”), Hazlitt (“Economics in One Lesson”, “The Inflation Crisis”), Machlup (“The Stock Market, Credit and Capital Formation”), Menger (“Principles of Economics”), Hülsmann (“The Ethics of Money Production”, a biography of Mises), Baader (on the end of paper money), Callahan (“Economics for Real People”) and Aubrey.
What it gives a trader
For a trader the most useful are Machlup (the link between the stock market and credit), Hazlitt (economics basics in plain language) and Huerta de Soto (the theory of credit cycles). They help you understand why central bank decisions move markets so strongly.
Lessons for traders
- credit and interest rates are the fuel of bull markets and the source of bear markets
- monetary policy affects all assets at once
- economics gives you context, not an entry point
What to watch out for
Many of these books are political and economic philosophy, not markets. The Austrian school's views are a minority position in economics.
Discussion
The discussion takes place in Hetman Capital Club (in Polish). Join the discussion in the Club →
Navigation
← #093 Crises in a Nutshell: Schiff, Otte, El-Erian, Stockman, Greenspan · Library index · #095 Economics Classics: Keynes, Friedman, Sowell, Samuelson, Krugman →
Educational content, not investment advice. The book description is my own summary and assessment, not quotations. Edition details were checked in catalogues and bookshops, and where there was doubt I said so plainly.