Rating: 
Summary: For the mildly interested
Review: If you are interested in economic history but aren't a specialist this book is an excellent fit. It does not assume a fluid knowledge of European hisotry. Nor does it assume you want make this your life's work. The Great Wave covers 3 seperate instances of long term inflation compares and contrasts them. The basic thesis is that increased productivity and a healthy economy leads to ever increasing demands on resources which create a slow secular inflation. As people realize they are in a slow inflation, a hyper inflation starts this damages the financial system and causes an economic disaster. From there the whole thing starts over.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing style, weak economics
Review: Mr Fischer's writing kept me entertained and enthralled. One has to set aside the economics and read the history. His storytelling is topnotch yet he data mines to force his wave theory. His "waves" stand out but one could recalendarize his waves, tell the same story and be just as accurate. I would like to read his other books, that is, if he is not trying to blind us with his insight.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, readable, well-documented, and entertaining.
Review: This should be a must read for anyone interested in inflation and historical business cycles. There is a liberal bias to some of his arguments but the criticisms I have seen of this work are oversimplifications of this massive synthesis of economic and historical data.
Rating:
Summary: Riding the inflation wave
Review: Utilizing a very long telescope, one that sees back into the Dark Ages, Brandise University professor David Hackett Fischer investigates the history of price changes to expound on a fascinating theory that can possibly foretell nothing less than the future of the United States, whether we're headed for an era of greater prosperity, or a catastrophe like that of the Great Depression.By examining the prices people paid for goods throughout history, four price-revolutions, were identified, where inflation grew in intensity strong enough to destabilize society. After each crash came a long period of comparative price-equilibrium, when countries experienced growth in culture, such as during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.Fischer's book looks intimidating: its 536 pages is studded with charts showing the flucturation of prices throughout history. But Fishcher devotes only 258 pages to an analysis of prices waves; the rest of the book is taken up with appendices and essays on side issues. And the 258 pages contains 105 charts, further reducing the amount of reading needed to grasp the main points. Fischer retells history during the four waves, and there, except for the occasional burst of economic jargon, the text is compelling, and the theory well worth considering. -- Bill Peschel
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