Paper and Iron
Few economic events have had the impact of German hyperinflation in 1923, yet in recent years historians have defended the inflationary policies adopted after 1918. In Paper and Iron, Niall Ferguson takes a different view. He argues that inflation was an economic and political disaster and that alternative economic policies could have stabilized the German currency in 1920. To explain why these were not adopted, he points to long-term defects in the political institutions of the Reich from the 1890s. Paper and Iron not only reveals the Wilhelmine origins of Weimar's failure, but it also casts new light on the origins of the Third Reich.
Praise for Paper and Iron
"Ferguson makes a valuable contribution to the historiography of German inflation, a valuable reassessment of long-term inflationary pressures in German history."
— The Historian
"This thoroughly researched and well-written study is a sophisticated substantiation of earlier analyses that pointed out the destructive effects of hyperinflation on Germany."
— Choice
"This superb work offers revisions of a good deal of previous scholarship on Germany in the late Wilhelminian and the Weimar eras. Future studies of German history in this crucial period will have to take Paper and Iron into account."
— Michael Richards, German Life
"Ferguson's counterfactual produces powerful insights that deserve careful consideration and further investigation."
— Gerald D. Feldman, Central European History
"This well-written, imaginative, and lively account, the author's first book, deserves scrutiny by every serious student of Weimar's business, political, and financial history."
— Elisabeth Glaser, Business History Review
"A new perspective on one of Germany's major e onomic centers during the pre-war and Weimar eras."
— Rebecca S. Fahrlander, The European Studies Journal