The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Behandelt de geschiedenis van geld als zijnde een ruilmiddel en de ontwikkeling in de tijd. Ik weet niet of ik het zijn conclusie mag noemen, maar het laatste hoofdstuk vergelijkt deze ontwikkeling met de "gewone" natuur: evolutie van soorten, afsterven of uitsterven etc. verrassende denkrichting. Ik heb wat commentaren gelezen dat het relaas van de auteur niet helemaal correct zou zijn; ik heb onvoldoende kennis om dit te kunnen beoordelen, maar ik het dit boek als zeer leerzaam gelezen en diverse zaken zetten mij aan tot nadenken. Natuurlijk geen boek dat je in een weekend eventjes doorneemt, maar heb getracht de afgelopen maand iedere dag een aantal pagina's door te werken. I wish he had spent more time on the specific about the history of money in early civilizations; if anyone knows of a good book about that, let me know.The main reason to read the book, of course, is to understand the extent at which money controls the world. It is something so tangible and real that you wonder how conspiracy theories about powerful groups manipulating the destiny of the world manage to convince anyone with an IQ over 70. But there again, those read like a book of adventures, while the real deal reads more like a financial accounting textbook.Some of the most interesting sections:- Medicci's financial inovations.- Raise of the house of Rotschild, the issue of the first goverment bonds, and his financial bets during the Napoleonic wars.- The first IPO of stock open to the public the Dutch West company (Holland was a province of Netherlands). There were predecessors, but thiw was the first formal publicly traded company.- US sessesion war determined by the lack of financial savvy, the south lost because their cotton bonds could not be redemable.- Germany's post WWI depression product of fiscal irresponsability, rather than excessive levy of war compensation payments, as is most often stated.- First bills, bank notes product from Louis XV France, first stock bubble predicted by Voltaire.- Current financial bubbles eerily simmilar to the one in Loui XV's time.
What do You think about The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World (2008)?
This sweeping history of various economic events over the last 800 years or so was perhaps more entertaining than informative. I don't mean that it wasn't full of facts - as it is actually overwhelming in its depth at points. The story being told was one of very specific monetary inventions such as paper currency, government bonds, hedge funds, insurance, and the stock market. The author chose to highlight these events through the characters and circumstances most closely associated with them - which increased the interest and entertainment value but at the expense of a broader sense of the impact on society. This is purely my bias and the moderate rating I am giving is mostly due to my finding that I just wasn't as interested in this aspect of money as I thought I might be.
—Hana
Economy non-fictionThis Harvard professor on economic history presents a fascinating history of money, insurance, stocks, bonds and whatever crooked things our financial goofs do to increase their wealth while decreasing ours. Interesting ideas on real estate and is it really "safe as houses" as an investment. Short answer, no.Canadian references - short mention of the Canadian economy and real estate sales and a brief comparison of our economy to Argentina's.
—thaoduong
By far the best source in understanding the history of finance and the ascent of capitalism.
—Miah_J
nice book to understand the evolution of bonds and stocks
—Beatrice
