We Need to Talk about Inflation: Six Urgent Lessons from the Last Two Thousand Years

 
　　「通膨」無疑是近兩年每個人生活中最有感、最關心的議題。各國政府和央行公布的各項經濟措施，牽動民生消費、社會穩定度、國家發展和施政滿意度，亦是媒體高度關注的話題。
 
　　享譽國際的經濟學家史蒂芬‧金恩，是少數幾位最先預警新一波經濟動盪的先知。作者綜觀近兩千年的全球政經史，逐筆探究古羅馬時代、美國內戰、資產泡沫等歷史事件，理出各時空背景下通膨發生的脈絡，提出十四條決策者必須銘記在心的關鍵教訓。
 
　　急速通膨的棘手問題，往往源自錯誤的政治決策、統治者的私慾，致使民眾對貨幣集體失去信心。政府應當透過鑑古觀今的方式，預防貨幣和通膨問題，引發後續一連串更嚴重的社會動盪。作者直言，若當權者將全球這波通膨高漲的原因，歸咎於新冠疫情所引發的供應鏈問題，或烏俄戰爭致使能源價格攀升……等外部因素，將無益於解決實質問題。並呼籲各國政府及央行等決策單位，以更負責任的態度，追本溯源，審慎檢視近年來過於寬鬆的貨幣政策、正視日益惡化的貧富不均現象，為經濟問題提出更全面的解方。
 
　　《金融時報》高度盛讚：「史帝芬‧金恩的新書充分反映我們正面對的高通膨和經濟問題，世界各地的經濟政策決策者，都該優先閱讀這本著作。」 (文/博客來編譯)

A FINANCIAL TIMES ＂BOOK TO READ IN 2023＂

＂Everything you wanted to know about inflation but were afraid to ask.＂--Mervyn King

＂King’s lessons command our attention.＂--Lawrence H. Summers

＂Maybe you don’t think inflation is back for good. That is your right. But you’d be advised to read this book first.＂--Stephanie Flanders

From investors and monetary authorities to governments and policy makers, almost everyone had assumed inflation was dead and buried. But now people the world over are confronting a poisonous new economic reality and, with it, the prospect of vast and increasing wealth inequality.

How have we arrived in this situation? And what, if anything, can we do about it?

Celebrated economist Stephen D. King--one of the few to warn ahead of time about the latest inflationary upheaval--identifies key lessons from the history of inflation that policy makers chose not to heed. From ancient Rome through the American Civil War and up to the asset bubbles of today, inflation stems from policy error, sovereign greed, and a collective loss of faith in currencies.

We Need to Talk About Inflation cuts through centuries of bad judgment and misunderstanding, offering a means to intervene now--so we can begin to tackle the political and social upheaval unleashed by inflation.

經濟學家史帝芬‧金恩（Stephen D. King）

　　是英國下議院財政委員會專家顧問，長期擔任滙豐集團資深經濟顧問，經常在《金融時報》與《泰晤士報》發表文章，2017年出版的前作《大退潮》（Grave New World）精準預測全球化的逆轉並入圍該年度商業書籍獎名單，書作另有《經濟成長的終結》（When the Money Runs Out）等。

Stephen D. King is senior economic adviser at HSBC, is a columnist for the Evening Standard, and has also been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee. He is the author of Losing Control, When the Money Runs Out, and Grave New World.