I would add "Lords of Finance" to the list: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QIGZEK

The book, which won a Pulitzer in 2010, describes the financial crises and global economic depression that followed the Great Crash of 1929 -- relevant to the current (post-2008-crisis) state of affairs.

Normally, books on these topics are dull and dreary. This one is surprisingly interesting and fun, in part because it shows how colorful personalities, prevailing wisdom, and political realities influenced events.

PS. The first chapter is available for free at the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/books/chapters/chapter-lor...

I’m not the OP, but there’s a whole book on the topic. Fascinating read if you ever get the chance.

A Keystone Cops level of professionalism displayed by the central bankers at the time.

Lords of Finance - https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/...

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World

https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/...

I agree that technology advances would have lead to massive deflation without all the money printing. The point of money printing is to do precisely this, so that the measure of economy does not get out of sync with the size of the economy. https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/... is a great book that touches the topic -- it also shows this discussion is not new.

I also agree that the chosen transmission mechanism of money creation (buying bonds and stocks by central banks) might have lead to worsening inequality. I like the Yudkowsky treatment at https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tAThqgpJwSueqhvKM/frequently... .

But I still think that the inflation is low and if we want to describe the problems that are happening even though it's low, we should create new language, not shift the current one.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation provide one popular theory as to why it collapsed around World War 1, from a cultural anthropology perspective.

http://uncharted.org/frownland/books/Polanyi/POLANYI%20KARL%...

Liaquat Ahamed's _Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke The World_ provides another congruent account, from a more detailed historical/economic perspective, as to why gold was abandoned.

http://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/0...