Author(s): Sidney Homer; Richard Sylla

Business, Economics, Finance

The first and second editions of the late Sidney Homer's book, A History of Interest Rates, were classic books for those interested in business history and economics, with a remarkable coverage across time and space. This new third edition is even more thorough. It is a comprehensive study of interest rate trends and cycles, and of credit forms, throughout recorded history. It covers ancient times and Europe in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the nations of Europe and North America before and after 1900, as well as Japan, Russia, China, and other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Richard Sylla has revised and updated this book for the third edition, which now carries the history of interest rates to 1989. Highlights of the new edition include documentation of the recent ascent of interest rates throughout the world to their highest levels since the Middle Ages, a great deal of new information on Japan and the European Economic Community, more information on real interest rates and consumer interest rates, expanded treatment of the United States, and updated charts and tables. New credit forms, including inflation-indexed loans and securities, and the economic concept of real interest rates, are discussed. The market for U.S. government debt, which has become the largest financial market in history, receives extensive coverage. Superb graphs visually portray all this information. This is an invaluable reference book for anyone working in the fields of business, economics, finance, or banking.