Protectionism has been an enduring feature in the world economy even though economic theory can prove that free trade is a superior regime. Protectionism is, of course, caused primarily by interest groups who lose out under free trade and are able to organize to protect their interests.

This title is concerned with periods of very rapid inflation in the period before 1950 and shifts the emphasis from hyperinflation as commonly defined to a wider range of experience. It examines the source and origins of these inflationary episodes, how they started and what measures were used...