Scan barcode
patrick_smith's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Interesting overview of the history of money and simply written.
rujein's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Was interesting to find out about the evolution of money over time. Major changes in the use of money to represent value: money as representative of physical goods, money as representative of silver/gold, paper money in itself, and electronic money freed from physical form.
The chapters on how governments (monarchies mostly) in the 17th to 19th centuries were unable to control money (they didnt understand that adding more money supply wouldnt increase their wealth and would cause inflation) was quite fascinating. Living in a post-economics world, these concepts seem so self-evident but really they are quite new. Interesting to see how the human race learns through its history.
Never thought about how the form of money could affect the economy - with money that didnt need to be tied to goods, the same money could be used multiple times by different people, generating more economic activity.
Quite impressed how the author predicted how we’d be using electronic money (this was written in the 1990s).
Thought the analysis was a bit eurocentric.
The chapters on how governments (monarchies mostly) in the 17th to 19th centuries were unable to control money (they didnt understand that adding more money supply wouldnt increase their wealth and would cause inflation) was quite fascinating. Living in a post-economics world, these concepts seem so self-evident but really they are quite new. Interesting to see how the human race learns through its history.
Never thought about how the form of money could affect the economy - with money that didnt need to be tied to goods, the same money could be used multiple times by different people, generating more economic activity.
Quite impressed how the author predicted how we’d be using electronic money (this was written in the 1990s).
Thought the analysis was a bit eurocentric.
eric_conrad's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed the book, because it filled in some gaps of my knowledge of money. The history of the Florentine bankers and the Spanish silver mining in the Americas was very interesting. Where it failed hard was in its future predictions. In 1997, the author felt that the internet would not be able to provide electronic purchases for the average consumer. Amazon and others proved that it could and did happen.
severusdd's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the parts of the book where it actually describes the history of money. It is rich with lots of interesting information & perspectives. Also, the author has a great storytelling style!
The narrative does get draggged down a bit in the last ~10% of the book though, once it starts predicting the future and talking about the morality of monetary policies...
The narrative does get draggged down a bit in the last ~10% of the book though, once it starts predicting the future and talking about the morality of monetary policies...
bvargo's review against another edition
3.0
Somewhat dated. Breton Words could have used more than 3 sentences, two of which were about the location.
brownboydigital's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very entry-level book, and I would be careful about reading this because he makes lots of snap judgments. I needed a chill book to read during my exam season and this was a good one. Maybe this is a good pickup book for someone who hasn't read in a while but it is not that substantial. I liked his analysis of the currency system in antiquity and enjoyed his prescient take on electronic money. Overall, a simple book but still worth a read depending on your level of understanding.
More...