Dror Goldberg
Easy Money
American Puritans and the Invention of Modern Currency
The University of Chicago Press, 2023
REVIEWS
"Full of insights about the 21st century brought from carefully interpreting 17th century events, Easy Money is a fascinating mixture of American political, economic, and intellectual history that is sharply focused on how paper money was invented and implemented."
Thomas Sargent, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2011)
"... an engrossing narrative account ... the first booklength attempt to explain why a defining concept in our global financial system emerged within a desperate theocracy on the fringes of the British Empire."
"Estimable book."
The Wall Street Journal
AVAILABLE ON
Debut on Amazon lists, April 2023
New releases: Monetary economics (#1), colonial history (#1), economic history (#2), economics (#5)
Best sellers (new & old): Monetary economics (#4), colonial history (#4), economic history (#10)
Presentations of the book
November 22, 2022: Bank of Israel (Research Division)
April 27, 2023: Museum of American Finance
May 2: Barclays Bank, New York
May 3: Northwestern University (Economic history seminar)
May 4: Colonial Society of Massachusetts (recording on Youtube)
May 8: Rhode Island Historical Society
May 9: Cato Institute (recording on Youtube)
May 10: Southern Methodist University (Department of History)
May 16: Treasury Historical Association
June 5: New England Historical and Genealogical Society (recording on Youtube)
June 15: Maine Historical Society (virtual)
June 26: Friedberg Economics Institute, Tel Aviv (physical)
October 26-28: Newman Numismatic Portal at Washington University (virtual)
November 16-19: Social Science History Association (Physical book session: Early American Paper Money)
Some time in the fall: Tel Aviv University (The Center for the Study of the United States)
Free online material related to the book
Articles (non-academic)
An abstract of the book for financially literate Americans: Easy Money: The Invention of Mdern Currency in 1690 Massachusetts (Financial History Magazine, issued by the Museum of American Finance)
An abstract of the book for New Englanders: Easy Money: How New England Puritans Invented Our Currency (The New England Historical Society)
The Middle Hutchinson: Elisha, 1641-1717 (Commonplace: The Journal of Early American Life)
The Federal Reserve Accountability Act in Light of 333 Years of American Experiments (American Institute for Economic Research)
A legal-tender warning to bitcoiners: What Croatia’s transition to the euro can teach us about the upside-down world of bitcoin (Chicago Tribune)
My social media & blogs
The legal tender blog: Money in theory, history, law, and policy
The Alien's Anglo-American blog: On the 17th century
You Tube
My playlist: Lectures and short videos
Podcasts and radio
An interview with KPCW, an affiliate of National Public Radio
The Lewis and Lucas Podcast: American Puritans created Fiat Currency?
כלכלה מוניטרית: תיאוריה, היסטוריה, ומדיניות (ספר לימוד של האוניברסיטה הפתוחה), סתיו 2023
משפט, כלכלה ומוסדות בישראל (עריכה, עם רון חריס): כרך בכתב העת "משפט, חברה ותרבות", אוניברסיטת תל אביב, 2022
ערוץ היוטיוב שלי: מבחר הרצאות בעברית ואנגלית
פייסבוק: פוסטים בעברית על היסטוריה של כסף והיסטוריה אמריקאית
בעתונות: בעיית המיסים של ביטקוין