Inflated

R. CHRISTOPHER WHALEN is an investment banker and author in New York City. He is Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors LLC, which focuses on the financial services, mortgage finance, and technology sectors. He has three decades’ experience as a writer and financial professional in Washington, New York, and London.

• Preface xvIntroduction xvChapter 1 Free Banking and Private Money 1The Bank of the United States 5State Debt Defaults 10The Age of Andrew Jackson 14The Panic of 1837 19The Gold Rush 23Chapter 2 Lincoln Funds Civil War with Inflation 27The Lincoln Legacy 29Financing the War 32Salmon Chase and Jay Cooke 36Fisk and Gould Profit by Inflation 39The Panic of 1873 43Gold Convertibility Restored 46Chapter 3 Robber Barons and the Gilded Age 55Republicans Embrace Silver and Inflation 59The Panic of 1893 62The Cross of Silver 64The Turning Point: 1896 66Chapter 4 The Rise of the Central Bank 73The Progressive: Theodore Roosevelt 75A Flexible Currency 79The Crisis of 1907 83The National Monetary Commission 86The Federal Reserve Act 91Chapter 5 War, Boom, and Bust 99An Elastic Dollar 107A Return to Normalcy 113The Roaring Twenties 116New Era Finance 118The Rise of Consumer Finance 121America Transformed 123Prelude to the Depression 128Stocks Fall, Tariffs Rise 131Deflation and Crash 1929 137Chapter 6 New Deal to Cold War 145Broken Promises 148Gold Seizure and Devaluation 153Devaluation and Tariffs 158Rise of the Corporate State 160The Reconstruction Finance Corporation 166Central Planning Arrives in Washington 171Federal Deposit Insurance 173Centralization of the Fed 176Eccles and the Corporatist Revolution 183America Goes to War 188Wartime Finance 193Bretton Woods 194Chapter 7 Debt and Inflation 199Revenues Grow 204The Fed Regains Independence 207Postwar Growth 210Cold War, Free Trade 213The Golden Age 218Global Imbalances Return 222Nixon’s Betrayal 226The Dollar Peg Ends 227Sovereign Dollar Debt 232Chapter 8 Leveraging the American Dream 239The New Uncertainty 243Full Employment 249Balanced Budgets and Inflation 254Shock Treatment 258The Crisis Managers 263Latin Debt Crisis 268Reagan Reappoints Volcker 272The Neverending Crisis 275Volatility Returns 278Boom to Subprime Crisis 281The Greenspan Legacy 284Chapter 9 Financial Crisis and Malaise 289Quantitative Easing 295The Powell Pivot and COVID 305The Fed Goes Big 311Deficits and Central Bank Independence 319Offshore Dollars and Taxes 325Chapter 10 New American Dreams 333The Growth Illusion 341Inflation and Stagnation 345A Flexible Currency 352Tricentennial Dollar? 355Endgame 358Notes 365Selected References 387Acknowledgments 391About the Author 393Index 395