The Return of Inflation: Money and Capital in the 21st Century

Both a history and a contemporary analysis, an illuminating investigation of the defining economic concern of our time.

The last year has seen the return of inflation as a preoccupation of political decision-makers, economists, and the general public. After two decades of wondering why inflation was so low, despite vast economic stimulus, economists were surprised by the recent surge in price increases. Despite disagreement about what exactly is happening in the economy, there is unanimity in one belief: slowing growth to control inflation. To focus on inflation’s return, Paul Mattick looks at both the past and present, placing current events in the context of capitalism’s history. Exploring the nature of money itself, he provides a concise, jargon-free understanding of recent inflation as well as official efforts to control it, illuminating the state of our contemporary economy.

Paul Mattick is emeritus professor of philosophy at Adelphi University, New York. He is the author of Business as Usual, also published by Reaktion Books, and Theory as Critique: Essays on Capital, and is the editor of the Reaktion/Brooklyn Rail Field Notes series. He is the former editor of the International Journal of Political Economy and lives in San Francisco.