If Not Silver, What?

If Not Silver, What? (1896) by John W. Bookwalter is a forceful, highly readable classic of American economic debate, written at the height of the “silver question” and the fight over what money should be. Bookwalter argues that demonetizing silver and forcing the economy onto a single-metal standard concentrates power, tightens credit, and silently increases the real burden of old debts as purchasing power shifts, consequences felt most sharply by producers, farmers, wage earners, and anyone living on the wrong side of deflation. He does not treat money as an abstract theory. He treats it as a system that decides who prospers, who struggles, and whether a nation’s growth is fuelled by opportunity or choked by scarcity.

What makes this book so compelling as an audiobook is its combination of moral urgency and practical argument. Bookwalter presses a blunt question: if silver is rejected, what replaces it that is more stable, more just, and more capable of serving a growing economy? He builds his case by examining history, prices, production, and the real-world effects of a shrinking money base, explaining why a broader monetary foundation can mean steadier value, fairer contracts, and a healthier balance between creditors and debtors. Along the way he addresses popular misconceptions about silver’s “cheapness,” challenges the language of “honest money” by tying honesty to purchasing power over time, and repeatedly returns to the idea that stability in money is not a luxury but the bedrock of commercial life. The result is an absorbing listen for anyone interested in financial history, monetary policy, the roots of modern inflation and deflation debates, and the political economy that shaped the United States at the end of the nineteenth century.

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Lydbog: 17. februar 2026