DEATH OF THE DOLLAR

A singularly accessible study of the gold crisis and the monetary systems, domestic and international, whose deformations it exhibits. Rickenbacker draws on conservative economists Schwartz and Friedman's work on the Quantity Theory of inflation and, in general, attacks the new orthodoxies of the Federal Reserve System and the ""money managers."" He argues that gold backing for currency is a ""necessary adjunct of individual liberty,"" predicts that it will become even more important as the dollar falls, and concludes that the government controls he deplores are in the offing, since deflation is politically difficult. From the lucid explanations of the institutional framework and the basic issues involved (tricky terms like debt and money are explicated very well), to the documentary appraisal of the past decade's muddles, the forthrightness of the book's partisan stands and the fair-mindedness of its presentation of key debates recommend the work to readers of all degrees of sophistication.