PDF Ebook The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Yeah, soft data comes to be a reason why you need to read this book. If you bring the published publication for some places, it will make your bag to be larger. When you can stick with the soft file, it will certainly not have to bring heavy point. However, the The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World in soft data can be a selection when you go with some areas or remain at home. Please read this book. It is not only the tip; it will certainly be ideas for you and you're your life to move forward much better.
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
PDF Ebook The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Following your should always meet the motivation to acquire everyone is now straightforward. Connecting to the net is just one of the routes to do. There are many sources that provide and also link us to other world problem. As one of the items to see in web, this web site ends up being a very available area to seek numerous resources. Yeah, resources about the books from countries worldwide are offered.
Feel so eased to find and also wait this book ultimately comes show up. It is the recommended enough for you that are still perplexed to obtain brand-new analysis book. When various other publications come with the indication of best seller, this book is more than it. This is not just about the very best vendor one. The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World is one publication that will certainly make you come to be best person, minimally the far better individual after getting the lesson. The lesson of this book is typically as exactly what you should do.
So, also you require obligation from the firm, you might not be perplexed any more because publications The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World will certainly always assist you. If this The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World is your finest partner today to cover your work or job, you could as soon as possible get this publication. How? As we have actually told formerly, simply see the web link that we provide right here. The verdict is not just guide The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World that you hunt for; it is how you will obtain lots of books to support your ability and also ability to have piece de resistance.
By saving The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World in the device, the method you read will also be much easier. Open it as well as begin checking out The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World, straightforward. This is reason we recommend this The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World in soft documents. It will not disturb your time to get the book. Furthermore, the on-line system will certainly additionally ease you to look The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World it, also without going somewhere. If you have link net in your workplace, house, or device, you can download The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World it straight. You may not likewise wait to receive the book The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World to send by the vendor in other days.
Review
"Before regulators throw block trades, bond swaps, bridge financing, butterfly spreads and Black-Scholes out with the bathwater, they should find time to read Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money." --The Wall Street Journal "[An] excellent, just in time guide to the history of finance and financial crisis." --The Washington Post "Shrewdly anticipates many aspects of the current financial crisis, which has toppled banks, precipitated gigantic government bailouts and upended global markets." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times"Fascinating." --Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek"Good old-fashioned narrative history, complete with heroes and villains, visionaries and scoundrels." --James Pressley, Bloomberg
Read more
About the Author
Niall Ferguson is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the author of Paper and Iron, The House of Rothschild, The Pity of War, The Cash Nexus, Empire, Colossus, The War of the World, The Ascent of Money, High Financier, Civilization, The Great Degeneration, Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, and The Square and the Tower. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His many awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013).
Read more
Product details
Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1 edition (October 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143116177
ISBN-13: 978-0143116172
Product Dimensions:
5.4 x 1 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.2 out of 5 stars
429 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#15,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The genius of history Professor Ferguson, of Harvard University and the Hoover Institute, is widely acclaimed. His ability to summarize the broad sweep of history in using easy language for non-academics is on display in many of his books.Note: this book is not without its critics, particularly among Economists, who can be a cantankerous lot with a wide variety of political viewpoints. The book succeeds as a historical narrative and does not lay claim to technical economic exposition.Ferguson has the ability to open up the broad sweep of history with easy terms and lots of facts to portray a clear picture. The pertinent statistics that abound in his narrative are particularly helpful in clarifying the history and impact of money. Beginning with money lenders in ancient Mesopotamia (a beginning form of credit) the author shows us how the ascent of money has been essential to the ascent of mankind.The ascent of money is described as an evolutionary process with development throughout history of new mediums of exchange. Capital mutations bring about the creation of new markets and new products, which are created by a system under capitalism, which provides growth in the monetary system to accommodate economic growth and expansion of the population. One example of the ongoing change in the world of business and technology that is cited: of the 100 largest private companies in the year 1919 only 29 remained in the top 100 by the year 2000.The author shows us the development of new tools in the supply of money from barter systems to using commodities as money, to the first coins in the Mediterranean region (600BC), to the Inca Empire which had no money (presumably applauded by Karl Marx but not John Lennon), to precious metals backed by coinage in the era of Pizarro, to the introduction of banking systems with the Medici Empire in 15th Century Florence, to the introduction of stocks, bonds, insurance, and international money markets, and to the subprime mortgage debacle.Within the narrative we get the broad sweep of many of the greatest economists including Adam Smith, Friedrich von Hayek, Ludvig von Mises, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Marx, Frank Knight, JM Keynes, and Milton Friedman.The Author asserts that the basis of money is TRUST. National currencies therefore float in value compared to other currencies depending upon international confidence and expected stability. Credit also is dependent upon the commitment that loans will be repaid. According to the author with other things being equal, more “money†only increases prices and does not enrich a nation.One theory espoused by a number of individuals in popular discourse is the world would be better off if there were no money! The author does not refute this argument directly, perhaps assuming that his readers are schooled in basic economics. Economic history teaches that in a culture where there is no money, a monetary system is created in order that goods and services can be exchanged between individuals. Only if no item in the culture has any value would there be no need for money. If anything, perhaps the life of an individual, does have value then there would arise the desire for a monetary system in order to protect or exchange the items of value between individuals. Ferguson does mention the “no money†topic regarding both Karl Marx and the Inca civilization. Little is known about the Inca Empire except that its time of prosperity was very short. Marxism seemed to flourish during the first half of the twentieth century but seemed to collapse by the end of the century, with many formerly Communist or socialist nations moving back toward widespread property rights and capitalism.
I appreciate and respect Mr Ferguson as an author and economist, but unfortunately, this book rated merely as "meh" for me. It was a fairly easy read, and while some theories and observations may be controversial to some (or rather in some circles), I don't think there was anything earth shattering or that 'out there.' If you've had any education in economics, then most of this book will be old hat (or at least a good refresher) and not bring you too much new. While those new to the field, then, will gain from this book, I think there are better routes to go. So overall, maybe this book is for you, and though it's only average to me, I still look forward to reading more works from Niall Ferguson.
A fascinating history of finance. The evolutionary nature of our economic systems is explained in a well written and understandable manner. This book should be enjoyed by historians, economists, and those interested in the changing world around them. The author’s references to the natural world are innovative and enlightening, and makes his analysis somewhat unique.
Incredible book, really well-written and documented. The author drives through century after century from Europe to South America, Asia, covering the origins of finance until today. Crisis, inflation, currencies, everything is in the book. Really worth reading it. It is easy to read, like a story or biography with superb prose and details. I didn’t know Niall Ferguson before and now I want to read more books of him. Recommended +.
The title of the book infers a positive connotation to the development of money. I think the majority of people would agree that we are better off than those of Mesopotamia. This ascent, however, follows a saw-tooth pattern of gains and losses through time. Ferguson does a good job following these vicissitudes. I discovered the function of money studying economics in university, a unit of exchange. When a country has problems maintaining confidence in their currency, any benefits that the evolution of money has developed moves backward because that belief diminishes.There is a lot of discussion on the purpose of this book: is it a history of money, does it fulfill an agenda of the author, does it describe the financial difficulties of our current economic condition, does it do all of these? I'll look at how this book fulfills all of these.Firstly, Ferguson provides us with a history of money by taking us from tablets used five thousand years ago in Mesopotamia to the earliest known coins from 600 BC found by archaeologists in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, to the Medicis of Italy, the Rothschilds, John Law , the American civil war, the World Wars, and to the housing bubble of the latest decade. These different periods illustrate developments and the failures in the history of loans, banks, bonds, real estate, derivatives, Chimerica, and the financial community's efforts to attach biological terms to the financial world.Secondly, some have criticized Ferguson for only providing history that supports his political leanings. An argument could be made that this is a history of money and not politics although the two are highly intertwined and Ferguson does include politics in this history. I would think Ferguson tried to minimize the role of politics so criticisms of excluding Pinochet's human cost could be defended on these grounds.Thirdly, the history of money is filled with instances of the animal spirit or irrational exuberance of human thinking which explains the most recent recession. From the Medicis to the Rothschilds, John Law to Ken Lay, over confidence soon gets the better of us and therefore does explain the cause of today's recession.So I think Ferguson did a good job overall in combining micro details that provide a tactile connection to significant developments in the history of money and still achieves a macro understanding of money. Looking at the ledgers of the Medicis or the tablets that were used for crops keeps you on your toes while explaining the developments of the first lenders for example.My favorite parts of this book include the Dutch United East India company's power in world trade, German monetary policy after WW I, the role of bonds in the US civil war, the Chilean experiment, and the modern day stock market, 12 fold increase over 20 years.My least favorite part is the explanation of today's problems being the result of printing money. From my reading of the situation, it was the rating agencies who enabled the selling of the CDO's and mortgage company's ability to escape liability in their lending practices. Not the printing of money.I'm looking forward to reading Ferguson's next book "Civilization".
Very interesting, a complex and intricate subject very well dealt with. A bit too deep and extensive for casual reading, but definitely a book for serious study.
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World PDF
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World EPub
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Doc
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World iBooks
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World rtf
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Mobipocket
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Kindle
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World PDF
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World PDF
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World PDF
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World PDF
