Debt: the First 5000 years!
I cannot speak more highly of this book. Only two books have radically altered how I see the world - this is the second.
It hooked me immediately by bursting the myth that coinage was invented as an improvement over barter. It covers everything from Irish slave trade to the Chinese silver crisis. It has a vast scope the spans the Globe and all of recorded history. I learned about the relationship between military adventures, bullion, and the creation of market economies. The book details how the biblical Jubilee originated and how it fit into the larger culture of the ancient Middle East. It details Islamic mercantilism and it reliance on networks of reputation and trust. The book culminates in the 2008 debt crisis with speculation on where we are headed.
All in all, this is an amazing book!
I cannot speak more highly of this book. Only two books have radically altered how I see the world - this is the second.
It hooked me immediately by bursting the myth that coinage was invented as an improvement over barter. It covers everything from Irish slave trade to the Chinese silver crisis. It has a vast scope the spans the Globe and all of recorded history. I learned about the relationship between military adventures, bullion, and the creation of market economies. The book details how the biblical Jubilee originated and how it fit into the larger culture of the ancient Middle East. It details Islamic mercantilism and it reliance on networks of reputation and trust. The book culminates in the 2008 debt crisis with speculation on where we are headed.
All in all, this is an amazing book!
