The economic analysis of households can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and it has been advanced in fits and starts ever since. The theoretical development of family economics was approached by Classical economists such as Smith and Malthus, utilizing the labor theory of value and they were followed by Marx and Engels and their scathing critique of the bourgeois family structure. Conversely, Mises pointed to improvements in family life as stemming from the normalization of mutually beneficial contracts and the recognition of property rights. Later, Schumpeter warned that the prosperity generated by capitalism would lead to a hyper-rational view where the benefits of traditional family life would be sacrificed for the increasing utility provided by market exchange, leading to the demise of traditional households. Finally, Becker re-invigorated family economics with his neo-classical approach, describing families as utility-maximizing entities. Since then, most work in family economics has followed in Becker’s footsteps. This book will represent a departure from this trend by introducing expansionary monetary policy as an important, but overlooked variable in the causes of altered household life.