Time to Panic? Understand Inflation with These 4 Books
You may have seen the headlines: Inflation rates have risen to their highest in decades, and experts are saying they could keep on going, too. But what does that actually mean for you? Essentially, goods and services will get more expensive and the purchasing power of your money will go down as the risk of a recession goes up.
Want to know what’s causing this and how to best manage your money? That’s where books about inflation can help. Expert economists have poured their wisdom into books, so the average person can learn about what’s happening to the economy and their money.
And to understand inflation fast, you can turn to Blinkist. Blinkist is an app that gathers powerful ideas from nonfiction books into 15-minute reads and listens. There are 5,000 books to explore across 27 categories including money & investments, leadership & management, and productivity.
The bite-sized explainers not only make learning from books quick, they make complex topics — like inflation — easy to understand and digest. And 22 million users around the world agree.
Here are four books, all available on the app, to help you understand inflation.
1. The Death of Money by James Rickards
The Death of Money
- 16 min reading time
Lawyer, investor, and economist, James Rickards, dives into how the current global monetary system works — and why it won’t keep working for long.
Rickards explains how the US government actually works to increase inflation, as that will help to eat away at its huge national debt. The book details how inflation is encouraged through injecting more money into the economy, and how this strategy may not be working.
One piece of advice from Rickards? Don’t keep all of your savings in a bank account where the value could be wiped out by hyperinflation. Instead, diversify your assets across gold, property, hedge funds, fine art, and just keep 30% as cash in a bank.
The book also explains common economic jargon — like fiat money and quantitative easing — that’ll help you understand the topic more deeply.
2. The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
The Deficit Myth
- 25 min reading time
- audio version available
The Deficit Myth explains what the Modern Monetary Theory is and why we shouldn’t compare how governments spend money to how the average family would spend it. Essentially, because the government actually issues money, it doesn’t have to play by the same rules as the rest of us with regards to trying to balance spending and earning.
– Stephanie Kelton
3. Second Chance by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Second Chance
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
You may know Robert T. Kiyosaki from Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but the businessman and personal finance guru has also written about the growing wealth gap in the US.
Second Chance explains how exactly the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. It also covers inflation from another angle. Kiyosaki explains how it causes people to put more of their money into savings, which only drives inflation rates even higher.
He also dives into ways readers can free themselves from financial restraints and inflation worries by building their assets and using debt to their advantage.
– Robert T. Kiyosaki
4. Free to Choose by Milton Friedman
Free to Choose
- 15 min reading time
Milton Friedman — economist, statistician, and Nobel Prize winner — dives into how the government affects the economy and our money in Free to Choose.
The book explains how inflation acts as a hidden tax on individuals, as you have to pay more money for goods and services over time. It also explains the link between the amount of money in circulation and the rate of inflation — using the skyrocketing prices during the Civil War as an example — and how government regulations for certain industries actually drive prices up.
There’s also a nod towards the cure for inflation — restricting the amount of money created by the government.
A Book Explained in 15 Minutes
As well as worrying about inflation, we’ve all got busy jobs and personal lives to keep up with. Blinkist makes it easy to learn from nonfiction books by sharing only the most important parts of a book in 15-minute explainers.
These bite-sized explainers include key ideas, actionable advice, and interesting anecdotes, so you’ll walk away with everything you need to know about the book’s topic.
Listen On the Go
You don’t even have to find 15 minutes to sit down to learn with Blinkist. Every explainer on the app is available in audio, so you can listen while working out, traveling to work, or walking the dog.
– Holger Seim, CEO of Blinkist
Love audio? The app also shares the powerful ideas from leading podcasts with its bite-sized Shortcasts.
Apple Thinks Blinkist is a Leading App
As well as its 22 million users around the world, Blinkist can count Apple as one of its fans. The tech giant named Blinkist as one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learning and even the CEO, Tim Cook, is a fan.
Plus, Blinkist is loved by the likes of The New York Times and Forbes, and has won awards from Google and the United Nations.
– The United Nations
