"From the invention of interest in Mesopotamia and the origin of paper money in China, to the creation of mutual funds, inflation-indexed bonds, and global financial securities, here is a sweeping survey of financial innovations that have changed the world." "Written by a distinguished group of experts and illustrated with over one hundred color photographs of landmark financial documents (including the first paper money), The Origins of Value traces the evolution of finance through 4,000 years of history. Readers see how and why many of our most important financial tools and institutions - loans, interest rates, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, the corporation, and the New York Stock Exchange, to name a few - came into being."--BOOK JACKET