2012 Reprint of 1932 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This essay is one of the important early works that together "represent the first integration and systematic elaboration of the Austrian theories of money, capital, business cycles, and comparative monetary institutions, which constitute the essential core of Austrian macroeconomics. Indeed these works have profoundly influenced postwar expositions of Austrian or "capital-based" macroeconomics down to the present day. The creation of such an oeuvre would be a formidable intellectual feat over an entire lifetime; it is an absolute marvel when we consider that Hayek had completed it in the span of eight years (1929-1937) and still well shy of his fortieth birthday."-- Joseph T. Salerno