An edition of The ascent of money (2008)

The ascent of money

a financial history of the world

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  • 4.1 (12 ratings) ·
  • 82 Want to read
  • 3 Currently reading
  • 21 Have read

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Last edited by kathrinpassig
December 9, 2023 | History
An edition of The ascent of money (2008)

The ascent of money

a financial history of the world

  • 4.1 (12 ratings) ·
  • 82 Want to read
  • 3 Currently reading
  • 21 Have read

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But historian Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history. Through Ferguson's expert lens, for example, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. Yet the central lesson of financial history is that, sooner or later, every bubble bursts.--From publisher description.

Publish Date
Publisher
Penguin Press
Language
English
Pages
441

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The ascent of money
The ascent of money: a financial history of the world
2009, Penguin Books
in English
Cover of: The ascent of money
The ascent of money: a financial history of the world
2008, Penguin Press
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. 363-397) and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Library of Congress
HG171.F47 2008, HG171 .F47 2008

The Physical Object

Pagination
v, 441 p.
Number of pages
441

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL23097748M
Internet Archive
ascentmoneyfinan00ferg
ISBN 10
1594201927
ISBN 13
9781594201929
LCCN
2009383048
OCLC/WorldCat
191929255
Library Thing
5798379
Goodreads
2714607

Work Description

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance.Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history.Through Ferguson's expert lens familiar historical landmarks appear in a new and sharper financial focus. Suddenly, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. And the origins of the French Revolution are traced back to a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scot murderer.With the clarity and verve for which he is known, Ferguson elucidates key financial institutions and concepts by showing where they came from. What is money? What do banks do? What's the difference between a stock and a bond? Why buy insurance or real estate? And what exactly does a hedge fund do?This is history for the present. Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to ask why the free market can't provide adequate protection against catastrophe. He delves into the origins of the subprime mortgage crisis.Perhaps most important, The Ascent of Money documents how a new financial revolution is propelling the world's biggest countries, India and China, from poverty to wealth in the space of a single generation—an economic transformation unprecedented in human history.Yet the central lesson of the financial history is that sooner or later every bubble bursts—sooner or later the bearish sellers outnumber the bullish buyers, sooner or later greed flips into fear. And that's why, whether you're scraping by or rolling in it, there's never been a better time to understand the ascent of money.

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History

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December 9, 2023 Edited by kathrinpassig removed duplicate authors
December 9, 2023 Edited by kathrinpassig Merge works
December 27, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
July 13, 2022 Edited by dcapillae Merge works
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page