Book excerpt: This book sets out, in straightforward, accessible terms, crucial aspects of monetary economics. It opens with an exposition of the fundamental question of what money is and what it does. Distinguished contributors then examine the key role of price stability and how to achieve it. Core issues addressed include: an examination of the long run effect of money on prices an analysis of the complex and variable relationship between money and fluctuations in the real economy an investigation of inflation and its dangerous consequences an analysis of the effect of regulation on the stability of financial systems in developed and developing countries the relationship between the money supply regime and economic performance the effect of monetary fluctuations on the interest rate the choice of targets for monetary policy. This book will be extremely useful to practising economists, students and scholars of financial and monetary economics.