Professor Hanke has authored or co-authored more than 20 books and monographs on monetary economics, currency boards, hyperinflation, privatization, capital markets, and development economics — published by major presses including Wiley, Palgrave Macmillan, Edward Elgar, Routledge, and Cato Institute.
A more complete bibliography is available at Professor Hanke's Cato Institute profile.
Recent Books (2020–2026)
Year | Title | Co-Author(s) | Publisher | Focus |
2026 | An Interview with Steve H. Hanke on His Life and Work in Economics | M. List, K. Schuler, C. Hofmann | KSP Books | Career retrospective; monetary reform, currency boards, and advisory work across six decades |
2025 | Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System | Matt Sekerke | Wiley | Post-2008 monetary reform; central banks misunderstand the money supply |
2024 | Capital, Interest, and Waiting: Controversies, Puzzles, and New Additions to Capital Theory | Leland B. Yeager | Palgrave Macmillan | Austrian capital theory revisited and extended |
2023 | Did Lockdowns Work? The Verdict on Covid Restrictions | Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung | IEA | Meta-analysis demonstrating lockdowns failed to reduce mortality |
2022 | Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives | Barry Poulson, John Merrifield | Lexington Books | International perspectives on fiscal sustainability and debt rules |
2020 | Money in the Great Recession: Did a Crash in Money Growth Cause the Global Slump? | Tim Congdon | Edward Elgar | Monetary explanation for the 2008–09 financial crisis |
2020 | Currency Boards Vol. 2: Studies on Selected European Countries | — | KSP Books | Case studies of European currency board regimes |
Book Spotlights
Making Money Work (Wiley, 2025)
The Global Financial Crisis broke the monetary system. Hanke and Sekerke show how central banks systematically misread the money supply. Their prescription: return to the Quantity Theory of Money, empower commercial banks as the primary money creators, and adopt rules-based rather than discretionary monetary policy. Published by Wiley to wide acclaim in the financial economics community.
Did Lockdowns Work? (IEA, 2023)
A landmark meta-analysis of 24 studies examining the effectiveness of COVID-19 lockdowns in reducing mortality. Hanke, Herby, and Jonung found that European and U.S. lockdowns reduced COVID-19 mortality by only 0.2% on average — concluding that the enormous economic and social costs were not justified by the marginal health benefits. Published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, London.
Capital, Interest, and Waiting (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
A meticulous examination of Austrian capital theory co-authored with economist Leland B. Yeager, a leading figure in the Austrian and monetarist traditions. The book revisits controversies in capital and interest theory, resolves longstanding puzzles, and proposes extensions to the theory. Published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Currency Boards for Developing Countries (1994, 2nd ed. 2015)
The definitive handbook on currency board design and implementation, co-authored with Kurt Schuler. This work provided the practical blueprint used by Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s and remains the standard reference for currency board reform. A pirated Bulgarian translation became a bestseller in Sofia in 1996, directly influencing the adoption of Bulgaria's currency board in 1997.
Classic Works on Currency Boards
Hanke and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins pioneered modern currency board scholarship, producing over 20 books and 300+ articles on the subject.
Year | Title | Co-Author(s) | Publisher |
1994 (2nd ed. 2015) | Currency Boards for Developing Countries: A Handbook | Kurt Schuler | ICS Press |
1993 | Russian Currency and Finance: A Currency Board Approach to Reform | Lars Jonung, Kurt Schuler | Routledge |
1991 | Capital Markets and Development | Sir Alan Walters | ICS Press |
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=steve+hanke+economics
Development Economics
Year | Title | Co-Author(s) | Publisher |
1998 | The Revolution in Development Economics | J.A. Dorn, A.A. Walters | Cato Institute |
Privatization (8 books)
Hanke has authored eight books on privatization, helping shape privatization policy during the Reagan Administration and internationally.
Year | Title | Role | Publisher |
1987 | Prospects for Privatization | Editor | Academy of Political Science |
1987 | Privatization and Development | Editor | ICS Press |
Monetary Economics
Year | Title | Co-Author(s) | Publisher |
2020 | Money in the Great Recession | Tim Congdon | Edward Elgar |
Note on Scope: Professor Hanke's book output is part of a broader scholarly program that includes over 300 articles and monographs on currency boards alone. Many works listed above are accompanied by companion articles, policy briefs, and translated editions.