A Good, Quick Primer

I am fascinated by monetary policy and central banking and have been since graduate school. My technical analysis skills have weakened over the years and I often struggle to explain some basic things to dinner companions who end up looking at me as if I have three eyes. Bruce Bartlett has written a pretty good, quick read on how failings in monetary policy (made worse by failings in fiscal policy) caused (that's right, caused) the Great Depression. Not capitalist greed, not political avarice, failed monetary policy.