From The Quotable Mises — surrounding passage

The Theory of Money and Credit , p. 47 Credit expansion is not a nostrum to make people happy. The boom it engenders must inevitably lead to a debacle and unhappiness. Planning for Freedom , p. 189 No one should expect that any logical argument or any experience could ever shake the almost religious fervor of those who believe in salvation through spending and credit expansion. Planning for Freedom , p. 63

“The essence of a credit-expansion boom is not overinvestment, but investment in wrong lines, i.e., malinvestment.”

Human Action , p. 556; p. 559 What is needed for a sound expansion of production is additional capital goods, not money or fiduciary media. The credit boom is built on the sands of banknotes and deposits. It must collapse. Human Action , p. 559; p. 561 If the credit expansion is not stopped in time, the boom turns into the crack-up boom; the flight into real values begins, and the whole monetary system founders. Human Action , p. 559; p.