Economic history Books

Book SynopsisAll of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, state-controlled companies in one dictatorship do business with corrupt, state-controlled companies in another. The police in one country can arm, equip, and train the police in another. The propagandists share resourcesthe troll farms that promote one dictator's propaganda can also be used to promote the propaganda of anotherand themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America. Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group doesn't operate like a bloc, but rather like an agglomeration of companies: Autocracy, Inc. Their relations are not based on values, but are rather transactional, which is why they operate so easily across ideological, geographical, and cultural lines. In truth, they are in full agreement about only one thing: Their dislike of us, the inhabitants of the democratic world, and their desire to see both our political systems and our values undermine. That shared understanding of the worldwhere it comes from, why it lasts, how it works, how the democratic world has unwittingly helped to consolidate it, and how we can help bring it downis the subject of this book.

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Book SynopsisFrom legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the international bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes - but similar to those that have happened many times before. A few years ago, Ray Dalio noticed a confluence of political and economic conditions he hadn’t encountered before. They included huge debts and zero or near-zero interest rates that led to massive printing of money in the world’s three major reserve currencies; big political and social conflicts within countries, especially the US, due to the largest wealth, political and values disparities in more than 100 years; and the rising of a world power (China) to challenge the existing woTrade Review'Ray Dalio has a special talent for identifying the key questions of our time. In this sweeping new book, he marshals a variety of economic, social and political measures to trace the rise and decline of nations. It is a serious contribution - and an urgent warning to the West.' -- Henry Kissinger'An audacious, practical guide to the rise and fall of empires over the last five hundred years of history - with important lessons for the US and China today.' -- Graham Allison, author of Destined for War'Ray Dalio has a unique talent for making important and complex issues simple. I was riveted by his descriptions of the cause/effect relationships that drove the last five hundred years of history and how they provide practical guidance for dealing with what is happening now. This may well be the most important book of the year if not the decade. A must-read.' -- Arianna Huffington'When Ray Dalio talks, I listen. His new book is remarkable in its scope - shedding new light on the biggest reasons nations win in the global economic and political arenas, and applying it to China and the US today. After reading this book, you probably won’t see the world the same again.' -- Henry Paulson, former US Secretary of the Treasury'History is too important to leave to historians. Only Ray Dalio would have the brilliant audacity to attempt such a synthesis of the financial, economic and political history of the world. Agree or disagree, Dalio’s book is essential reading to understand our times.' -- Lawrence Summers, former US Secretary of the Treasury'How do we learn from history so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes that have led to the downfall of nations? By reading Ray’s book Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order. Ray shows us how history can provide a template to help guide how we might think about what comes next. And for those of us who might shudder at reading 576 pages, he provides an ingenious highlighted path that makes the book a shockingly easy, yet comprehensive, read.' -- Mark Cuban'Ray does an astounding job of giving us an inspiring and thought-provoking experience by looking at the rises and declines of empires, showing how economics, culture, military prowess, innovation, inequality and other elements interact. He leaves us with an improved perspective for thinking about very vexing issues such as the state of America versus China.' -- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase

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Book SynopsisOur obsession with land is the driving force behind human history. It has sparked revolutions and fuelled economic booms as well as financial crises. Land is the world''s oldest and most important asset, and it governs the course of our lives more than any other form of wealth. But this immense power is also what makes it so dangerous.In The Land Trap, The Economist''s Wall Street editor Mike Bird reveals a sweeping, global history that shows how fortunes have been built - or destroyed - all on the bedrock of land. It has become the linchpin of the world''s banking system and it affects everything from soaring housing prices to geopolitical tensions. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China''s modern-day real estate crisis, this gripping narrative shows how the economics of land can make and break families, businesses, and even entire nations.This is the book for anyone who wants to see beyond markets and money to the hidden game being played out on the ground beneath our feet.

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Book SynopsisRay Dalio, the legendary investor and international bestselling author of Principles - whose books have sold more than five million copies worldwide - shares his unique template for how debt crises work and principles for dealing with them well. This template allowed his firm, Bridgewater Associates, to antic­ipate 2008’s events and navigate them well while others struggled badly. As he explained in his international best­seller Principles, Ray Dalio believes that almost everything happens over and over again through time, so that by studying patterns one can understand the cause-effect relationships behind events and develop principles for dealing with them well. In this three-part research series, he does just that for big debt crises and shares his template in the hopes of reducing the chances of big debt crises hap­pening and helping them be better managed in the future. The template comes in three

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestseller from business journalist Christopher Leonard infiltrates one of America’s most mysterious institutions—the Federal Reserve—to show how its policies spearheaded by Chairman Jerome Powell over the past ten years have accelerated income inequality and put our country’s economic stability at risk.If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes, no one would say the Federal Reserve. For most of its history, the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press. When the economy grew, it was credited to the Fed. When the economy imploded in 2008, the Fed got credit for rescuing us. But here, for the first time, is the inside story of how the Fed has reshaped the American economy for the worse. It all started on November 3, 2010, when the Fed began a radical intervention called quantitative easing. In just a few short years, the Fed more than quadrupled the money supply with one goal: to encourage banks and other investors to extend more risky debt. Leaders at the Fed knew that they were undertaking a bold experiment that would produce few real jobs, with long-term risks that were hard to measure. But the Fed proceeded anyway…and then found itself trapped. Once it printed all that money, there was no way to withdraw it from circulation. The Fed tried several times, only to see the market start to crash, at which point the Fed turned the money spigot back on. That’s what it did when COVID hit, printing 300 years’ worth of money in a few short months. Which brings us to now: Ten years on, the gap between the rich and poor has grown dramatically, inflation is raging, and the stock market is driven by boom, busts, and bailouts. Middle-class Americans seem stuck in a stage of permanent stagnation, with wage gains wiped out by high prices even as they remain buried under credit card debt, car loan debt, and student debt. Meanwhile, the “too big to fail” banks remain bigger and more powerful than ever while the richest Americans enjoy the gains of a hyper-charged financial system. The Lords of Easy Money “skillfully” (The Wall Street Journal) tells the “fascinating” (The New York Times) tale of how quantitative easing is imperiling the American economy through the story of the one man who tried to warn us. This is the first inside story of how we really got here—and why our economy rests on such unstable ground.Trade Review"A fascinating page-turner....There’s something undeniably gratifying about an elegantly crafted morality tale — and the business reporter Christopher Leonard has written a good one....A fascinating and propulsive story about the Federal Reserve — yes, you read that right. Leonard, in the tradition of Michael Lewis, has taken an arcane subject, rife with the risk of incomprehensibility (or boredom), and built a riveting narrative in which the stakes couldn’t be any clearer."– The New York Times "Skillfully tells the story of how, over several decades, a phalanx of economic sophisticates at the Fed have badly misunderstood the U.S. economy and often come up with policies that fail to produce the intended results." – The Wall Street Jornal "A timely addition—appearing just as inflation is making headlines....Leonard writes vividly about a technical subject....By focusing on a regional banker, Leonard offers a refreshingly non-Washington view....The author is surely correct that many Americans view the Fed as an unelected power aligned with elites, perhaps contributing to the disaffection that exploded on Jan. 6, 2021."– The Washington Post "It’s tough to turn the nuances of monetary policy into personality-driven narrative. But Christopher Leonard has succeeded in doing just that with The Lords of Easy Money....He turns [an] unassuming economist into the protagonist of a compelling tale about how the Federal Reserve changed the entire nature of the American economy... Weaving together narrative non-fiction with big ideas can be difficult. One of the best things about this book is that through Hoenig, Leonard, a business journalist, is able to tell the whole, complicated half-century story of how we got to where we are now in a way that isn’t at all wonky. There are real people here, making real decisions about the real world." – The Financial Times "[A] bracing and closely reported chronicle....Leonard’s book is an indispensable account in many respects—his coverage of the invisible bailout of the repo market alone stands as a bracing case study in how the false pieties of quantitative easing directly stoked ruinous asset bubbles. But Leonard is also that rarest of financial reporters who conscientiously tracks the real-life consequences of the Olympian deliberations undertaken by the paper economy’s gatekeepers....richly reported, accessible, biting, and long-overdue." – The New Republic "The book is a timely read to understand what could happen next through a thorough analysis of what this policy intervention looks like on the ground."– Enterprise: The State of the Nation "We get his point and it is a good one. This has been an era of loose money and the benefits have been very unevenly distributed... The office politics of the Fed are well captured by Leonard, as is the intimidating physical setting." – The New York Times "Leonard is skilled at explaining complicated financial maneuvering in a way normal people can understand... A good reminder of how uncertain a lot of monetary policy is." – The Washington Free Beacon“Leonard's wonderfully readable new book is about one of the most important, yet least covered and least understood, changes in American life. That's the effect of the dramatically increased role in financial markets played by the Federal Reserve. As Leonard convincingly argues, it might be nothing short of catastrophic.” — Bethany McLean, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room “An essential, engrossing and, above all, human tale featuring the central banker who dared to dissent from the party line and a factory worker whose sufferings are traceable to that dissident’s failure to carry his case. A monetary page-turner? Christopher Leonard has actually produced one.” — James Grant, founder and editor of Interest Rate Observer “Thanks to Leonard's gripping narrative, I now have a new monetary hero: former Fed governor Tom Hoenig. If, like me, you are desperate to understand how we got into this predicament, The Lords of Easy Money is required reading.” — William D. Cohan, New York Times bestselling author of House of Cards “Leonard’s richly reported and provocative exploration will have you reassessing whether the Fed built on a solid foundation or on air.”— Jesse Eisinger, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Chickenshit Club “An eye-opener. Well-researched and engaging, it brings to life consequential issues that influence the current and future wellbeing of most Americans... How this journey ends has important implications not just for the United States but also globally.” — Mohamed A. El-Erian, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Game in Town and president of Queens’ College, Cambridge University.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND SCHRODERS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 'Original and thought-provoking... A brilliantly erudite account of the major waves in the theory and practice of management' Financial Times'Instead of theory it has wisdom... an excellent book' New Statesman For generations, we have defined a corporation as a business that uses its accumulated wealth to own the means of production and exercise economic power. That is no longer the reality. Corporations no longer control their own industries, and our most desired goods and services aren't stacked in container ships: they appear on your screen, fit in your pocket or occupy your head. But even as we consume more than ever before, big business faces a crisis of legitimacy. The pharmaceutical industry creates life-saving vaccines but has lost the trust of the public. The widening pay gap between executives and employees is destabilising our societies. Facebook and Google have more customers than any companies in history but are widely reviled. In incisive, provocative prose, economist John Kay describes how the pursuit of shareholder value has destroyed mammoth companies, redefines successful commercial activity, and looks to the future of what the corporation might be.

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Book Synopsis'If you feel you should understand how economists think but have no idea where to start, this book is the answer' Financial TimesWhy are all my clothes made in Asia?How do I get a pay-rise?And what even is money?Join Britain's most venerable financial institution for a rip-roaring crash-course on economics. From financial crises to Freddo prices, it will help you make sense of your job, your life and maybe your world._'A well-written treat . . . Using examples including the Bank of England canteen, The Simpsons and Beanie Babies, the authors encourage us all to understand, and even challenge, what economists do' Professor David Spiegelhalter, author of The Art of Statistics'A well-timed attempt to show the public what goes on inside the Bank of England - and familiarise them with some basic economic concepts . . . Punctuated with jaunty anecdotes and neat examples' Guardian'An entertaining and essential read at a time when understanding how our money, governments and banks interact has never felt more important' Laura Whateley, author of Money: A User's GuideTrade ReviewIf you feel you should understand how economists think but have no idea where to start, this book is the answer . . . The Bank should be congratulated on this effort at education. Buy this book for the inquiring person, young, old or in between. -- Martin Wolf, Summer Books * Financial Times *A well-written treat . . . Using examples including the Bank of England canteen, The Simpsons and Beanie Babies, the authors encourage us all to understand, and even challenge, what economists do. -- Professor David Spiegelhalter, author of THE ART OF STATISTICSAn enjoyable introduction to the so-called dismal science . . . Patel and Meaning have done an admirable job in simplifying and popularising some of the key elements of their subject. * The Times *A great place to start your economic journey. With the Bank of England as your guide, this accessible book shows how economics affects so many aspects of our daily lives. -- Dr Linda Yueh, author of THE GREAT ECONOMISTSA well-timed attempt to show the public what goes on inside the Bank of England - and familiarise them with some basic economic concepts . . . Punctuated with jaunty anecdotes and neat examples. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWhy did the 1917 American Red Cross Mission to Russia include more financiers than medical doctors? Rather than caring for the victims of war and revolution, its members seemed more intent on negotiating contracts with the Kerensky government, and subsequently the Bolshevik regime. In a courageous investigation, Antony Sutton establishes tangible historical links between US capitalists and Russian communists. Drawing on State Department files, personal papers of key Wall Street figures, biographies and conventional histories, Sutton reveals: the role of Morgan banking executives in funneling illegal Bolshevik gold into the US; the co-option of the American Red Cross by powerful Wall Street forces; the intervention by Wall Street sources to free the Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky, whose aim was to topple the Russian government; the deals made by major corporations to capture the huge Russian market a decade and a half before the US recognized the Soviet regime; and, the secret sponsoring of Communism by leading businessmen, who publicly championed free enterprise. "Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution" traces the foundations of Western funding of the Soviet Union. Dispassionately, and with overwhelming documentation, the author details a crucial phase in the establishment of Communist Russia. This classic study - first published in 1974 and part of a key trilogy - is reproduced here in its original form. (The other volumes in the series include "Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler" and a study of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "1933 Presidential election in the United States").Trade Review'Sutton comes to conclusions that are uncomfortable for many businessmen and economists. For this reason his work tends to be either dismissed out of hand as 'extreme' or, more often, simply ignored.' - Richard Pipes, Baird Professor Emeritus of History, Harvard University (quoted from Survival Is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America's Future)Table of ContentsPreface Chapter I: The Actors on the Revolutionary Stage Chapter II: Trotsky Leaves New York to Complete the Revolution Woodrow Wilson and a Passport for Trotsky Canadian Government Documents on Trotsky's Release Canadian Military Intelligence Views Trotsky Trotsky's Intentions and Objectives Chapter III: Lenin and German Assistance for the Bolshevik Revolution The Sisson Documents The Tug-of-War in Washington Chapter IV: Wall Street and the World Revolution American Bankers and Tsarist Loans Olof Aschberg in New York, 1916 Olof Aschberg in the Bolshevik Revolution Nya Banken and Guaranty Trust Join Ruskombank Guaranty Trust and German Espionage in the United States, 1914-1917 The Guaranty Trust-Minotto-Caillaux Threads Chapter V: The American Red Cross Mission in Russia - 1917 American Red Cross Mission to Russia - 1917 American Red Cross Mission to Rumania Thompson in Kerensky's Russia Thompson Gives the Bolsheviks $1 Million Socialist Mining Promoter Raymond Robins The International Red Cross and Revolution Chapter VI: Consolidation and Export of the Revolution A Consultation with Lloyd George Thompson's Intentions and Objectives Thompson Returns to the United States The Unofficial Ambassadors: Robins, Lockhart, and Sadoul Exporting the Revolution: Jacob H. Rubin Exporting the Revolution: Robert Minor Chapter VII: The Bolsheviks Return to New York A Raid on the Soviet Bureau in New York Corporate Allies for the Soviet Bureau European Bankers Aid the Bolsheviks Chapter VIII: 120 Broadway, New York City American International Corporation The Influence of American International on the Revolution The Federal Reserve Bank of New York American-Russian Industrial Syndicate Inc. John Reed: Establishment Revolutionary John Reed and the Metropolitan Magazine Chapter IX: Guaranty Trust Goes to Russia Wall Street Comes to the Aid of Professor Lomonossoff The Stage Is Set for Commercial Exploitation of Russia Germany and the United States Struggle for Russian Business Soviet Gold and American Banks Max May of Guaranty Trust Becomes Director of Ruskombank Chapter X: J.P. Morgan Gives a Little Help to the Other Side United Americans Formed to Fight Communism United Americans Reveals "Startling Disclosures" on Reds Conclusions Concerning United Americans Morgan and Rockefeller Aid Kolchak Chapter XI: The Alliance of Bankers and Revolution The Evidence Presented: A Synopsis The Explanation for the Unholy Alliance The Marburg Plan Appendix I: Directors of Major Banks, Firms, and Institutions Mentioned in This Book (as in 1917-1918) Appendix II: The Jewish-Conspiracy Theory of the Bolshevik Revolution Appendix III: Selected Documents from Government Files of the United States and Great Britain Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFrom our earliest wanderings to the rise of the digital nomad, here is the story of human migration. For hundreds of thousands of years, the ability of Homo sapiens to travel across vast distances and adapt to new environments has been key to our survival as a species. Yet this deep migratory impulse is being tested as never before. By building ever stronger walls and raising barriers to progress, governments are harming the lives of migrants and threatening the future well-being of our societies. In The Shortest History of Migration, a visionary thinker tells a story of the movement of peoples that spans every age and continent and goes to the heart of what makes us human. Drawn from ancient records and the latest genetic research, it recounts strange, terrible and uplifting tales of migrants past and present, examining the legacies of empire, slavery and war. Finally, Goldin turns his attention to today's world, bringing together the evidence of history with the most recent data to suggest how we might create a more humane future one that allows us to reap the tremendous benefits that migration can offer.

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Book Synopsis'A classic' - Simon Kuper, Financial Times'Brilliant' - James O'Brien, author of How to be RightThe five laws that confirm our worst fears: stupid people can and do rule the world.Since time immemorial, a powerful dark force has hindered the growth of human welfare and happiness.Trade ReviewA classic * Simon Kuper, Financial Times *Brilliant. * James O'Brien, author of How to be Right *A masterly book * Nassim Nicholas Taleb *This is a very funny book, but Carlo Cipolla's underlying insight really matters: there's a lot of stupidity about, including in society's highest circles – and the stupid wield a surprising amount of power, because the rest of us can never guess what idiotic thing they'll do next. We need to get wise to stupidity, and Cipolla's drily witty rules are a great place to start. * Oliver Burkeman *Cipolla’s subtle tongue-in-cheek humour made this book an underground classic in Italy. Today, under current worldwide political trends, it reads more like black humour. Keep in mind: reliable statistical data shows that 98% of the people seriously believe that they are far less stupid than the average. * Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics *

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Book SynopsisTHIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.The current financial crisis has only one parallel: the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s, which crippled the future of an entire generation and set the stage for the horrors of the Second World War. Yet the economic meltdown could have been avoided, had it not been for the decisions taken by a small number of central bankers.In Lords of Finance, we meet these men, the four bankers who truly broke the world: the enigmatic Norman Montaguof the bank of England, Benjamin Strong of the NY Federal Reserve, the arrogant yet brilliant Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbanlk and the xenophobic Emile Moreau of the Banque de France. Their names were lost to history, their lives and actions forgotten, until now. Liaquat Ahamed tells their story in vivid and gripping detail, in a timely and arresting reminder that individuals - their ambitions, limitations and human nature - lie at the very heart of global catastrophe.Trade Review'Highly readable... [Ahamed] cannot have foreseen how timely his book would be. -- Niall Ferguson * FT *'Fascinating... a brisk, original, incisive and entertaining account of a crucial time in the world's economic history that continues to affect us all today. Anyone who wants to understand the origins of the economic world we live in would do well to read this book' * Michael Beschloss *One of those rare books - authoritative, readable and relevant - that puts the "story" back into history... a spellbinding, richly human [and] cinematic narrative. * Strobe Talbott *A great read. * George Soros *Absorbing [and] provocative, not least because it is still relevant. * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisThe first book of the next crisis. A history of interest rates by a leading financial commentator, updated with a new postscript.*Winner of the 2023 Hayek Book Prize**Longlisted for the 2022 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award*All economic and financial activities take place across time. Interest coordinates these activities. The story of capitalism is thus the story of interest: the price that individuals, companies and nations pay to borrow money.In The Price of Time, Edward Chancellor traces the history of interest from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through debates about usury in Restoration Britain and John Law ' s ill-fated Mississippi scheme, to the global credit booms of the twenty-first century. We generally assume that high interest rates are harmful, but Chancellor argues that, whenever money is too easy, financial markets become unstable. He takes the story to the present day, when interest rates have sunk lower than at any time in the five millennia since they were first recorded - including the extraordinary appearance of negative rates in Europe and Japan - and highlights how this has contributed to profound economic insecurity and financial fragility.Chancellor reveals how extremely low interest rates not only create asset price inflation but are also largely responsible for weak economic growth, rising inequality, zombie companies, elevated debt levels and the pensions crises that have afflicted the West in recent years - conditions under which economies cannot possibly thrive. At the same time, easy money in China has inflated an epic real estate bubble, accompanied by the greatest credit and investment boom in history. As the global financial system edges closer to yet another crisis, Chancellor shows that only by understanding interest can we hope to face the challenges ahead.Trade ReviewThe Price of Time is highly readable. The timing and telling of this economic horror story make it gripping and persuasive. -- Emma Duncan * The Times *Is it possible to write a highly engaging history of the world going back to Hammurabi, unfolding along the way a bitingly comprehensive explanation for its problems today, all told through a single character? Apparently yes. Edward Chancellor has done it, an achievement all the more notable since his drama is built around a character so unheroic on its surface: his "price of time" is interest rates. This is a timely, vitally important and hugely readable book. -- Ruchir Sharma * Chairman, Rockefeller International and New York Times bestselling author *Edward Chancellor has produced not just a brilliant explainer of the value of money and time but a hugely engaging history of the greatest problem confronting markets today. The Price of Time is a must read - a copy should be on the desk of everyone who has anything to do with financial markets or wondered why things work as they do. -- Merryn Somerset Webb * Editor-in-Chief, MoneyWeek *In Chancellor's terrific new book The Price of Time, he argues that well-meaning attempts by central bankers to manage interest rates have brought disaster ... It is no mean task to turn such a dry topic into a lively read, but Chancellor pulls it off. This is not just a worthy successor to his history of financial speculation, Devil Take the Hindmost, but an urgently needed warning. Rock-bottom interest rates were imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and have now lasted so long that they have started to seem almost tolerable. To read this book is to be reacquainted with the bizarre, Alice-in-Wonderland condition of modern finance. ... Anyone who wants a fresh perspective on today's problems - and anyone in Westminster hoping to chart a new economic course as Boris Johnson's successor - needs this book on their summer reading list. -- Marc Sidwell * Sunday Telegraph *Interest rates haven't simply fallen - they were pushed. And by their pushing, the world's central banks have constructed the hall of mirrors in which every investor has become, of necessity, a speculator. So argues Edward Chancellor in this brilliant chronicle of the most important prices in capitalism. You must read it. It is a masterpiece of history, analysis-and properly understated outrage. -- James Grant * editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer *I wish The Price of Time were the book that I had written. I am reminded of Keynes' letter to Hayek after reading The Road to Serfdom where he said "In my opinion it is a grand book. We all have the greatest reason to be thankful to you for saying so well what needs so much to be said. .... I find myself in agreement with virtually the whole of it, and not only in agreement but in a deeply moved agreement" -- William White * former Chief Economist, Bank for International Settlements *Besides being a first-rate economic historian, Chancellor is also a master wordsmith; almost unique among serious finance books, The Price of Time serves well as bedtime reading. ... More than 20 years ago, Edward Chancellor's Devil Take the Hindmost supplied readers with one of the most engaging and incisive descriptions of financial manias ever written. That was a hard act to follow, but The Price of Time nicely fills the bill; it is a serious work of political economy that is part comprehensive guide to the world financial system's greatest peril and part literary chocolate torte. -- William J. Bernstein * Enterprising Investor, Chartered Financial Analysts Institute *Well I'll be darned! Chancellor has done the nearly impossible: he has made a potentially dreary topic - interest rates - into a witty, philosophical and highly entertaining story crammed with historical anecdotes starting with the Babylonians and ending yesterday. At the same time the obvious weight and breadth of his research leads us to his important conclusion: for Heaven's Sake leave interest rates to market forces; manipulation by Central Banks leads to chain linked disasters, another of which may well be imminent. -- Jeremy Grantham, Founder and Chief Investment Strategist, GMO LLCa scholarly perspective of the history of interest and credit since their known origins in ancient Mesopotamia ... a rollicking read in comparison with Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century ... The Price of Time is leavened throughout by touches of humour and an eye for historical curiosities drawn from a huge range of sources. -- Martin Vander Weyer * Spectator *the book is magisterial in its scope. He describes the reasons for the current distortion of the markets and why wealth and income disparity were so pronounced in the last 20 years. He lays blame on the Federal Reserve and central banks around the world distorting the markets with low interest rates. You'll want to buy this book and get it the first day available. -- John Mauldin * Thoughts from the Frontline *Edward Chancellor argues that low interest rates, of the sort that prevailed since the financial crisis and until this year, are a catastrophic mistake because, as the great financial journalist Walter Bagehot wrote, they lead people to "invest their savings in something impossible - a canal to Kamchatka, a railway to Watchet, a plan for animating the Dead Sea, a corporation for shipping skates to the Torrid Zone". Cryptocurrencies are the Kamchatka canals of today. Their collapse, in Chancellor's view, is just the beginning of a great unravelling. The book is persuasive, perfectly timed and, for a work on such a nerdy subject, gripping. -- Emma Duncan * Times Writers’ Favourite Books of 2022 *a blistering polemic against the evils of artificially low interest rates. Right on cue, the gravy train of ultra-loose monetary policy has come to a halt. Perhaps you should therefore not just buy this book but sell all your stocks ... The Price of Time addresses the biggest economic question of the past 15 years. Have the experimental monetary policies pursued by the world's leading central banks since the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 been a miracle cure or an epochal mistake? It situates this contemporary dilemma in a rich historical context. For this is just the latest instalment of an ancient debate over the nature and role of interest in a well-functioning economy. ... Capital allocation has been distorted; investment risk mispriced; pensions systems destabilised; social mobility fossilised; and moderate investors polarised into idle rent-seekers or you-only-live-once speculators. Chancellor makes a compelling and disturbing case that excessively loose financial conditions lie behind them all. ... The carnage being wrought by even the modest increase in borrowing costs so far in 2022 is not encouraging. At least if you've read this scintillating book and heeded the infamous Chancellor signal, you'll know what needs doing when we emerge from the wreckage. -- Felix Martin * Reuters *Chancellor's panoptic survey of the history of interest, and what classical economists said about it, will not fail to dazzle * Economist *a sweeping historical analysis of how our financial system once again became untethered from the world it is supposed to serve. At the heart of such derangement, Chancellor argues, is a single factor: artificially low interest rates. As he reminds us, interest rates are the most important signal in a market-based economy, "the universal price" affecting all others. Interest is best defined as the time value of money, which Chancellor artfully renders as "the price of time." It is the price that informs every key financial decision-saving, spending, investing. Suppressing the rate of interest is a powerful way to boost an economy otherwise bound for recession, but it is a dangerous one. It is to finance what opiates are to medicine, a distortion of perception disguised as a cure. ... Chancellor's learned and engrossing history concludes with a somber warning. Compared with more heavy-handed forms of government intrusion, central bankers' manipulation of interest rates may seem rather innocuous, and it is much less likely to provoke howling objections from ordinary citizens. But more than any other, it threatens the efficiency and integrity of the free-enterprise system. Behind the price of time is the priceless right of freedom. -- Adam Rowe * Wall Street Journal *every bit as gripping as any science fiction novel. It's an amazing book ... truly magisterial in scope -- John Mauldin * Thoughts from the Frontline *Superb! A worthy successor to Devil Take the Hindmost. -- William Bernstein * author of The Delusion of Crowds *Praise for Devil Take the Hindmost * --- *An admirably researched and very well written account of speculative insanity from the earliest times to, let no one doubt, the present. -- J.K. GalbraithEntertaining, useful, admirable scholarship... Chancellor seems to have read everything. -- New York Times Book ReviewPraise for Crunch-Time for Credit? -- ---There was no single, dominant, astonishing voice in the wilderness in the debate on the credit crunch, but... Edward Chancellor, an economic historian, foresaw almost everything. -- Charles Moore * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisIn The Origin of Capitalism, a now-classic work of history, Ellen Meiksins Wood offers readers a clear and accessible introduction to the theories and debates concerning the birth of capitalism, imperialism, and the modern nation state. Capitalism is not a natural and inevitable consequence of human nature, nor simply an extension of age-old practices of trade and commerce. Rather, it is a late and localized product of very specific historical conditions, which required great transformations in social relations and in the relationship between humans and nature.Trade ReviewThe Origin of Capitalism was one of those 'Aha!' moments. Wood was an extraordinarily rigorous and imaginative thinker, someone who breathed life into Marxist political theory and made it speak-not to just to me but to many others-at multiple levels: historical, theoretical, political. -- Corey Robin * Jacobin *The writing is so supple and accessible, and the argument so persuasive, it's like watching a cloudy mixture of ideas being turned into a clear solution. -- Adrienne RichThis extremely valuable book offers an insightful tour of the historical debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism . a must-read for anyone with even the remotest interest in the origins of capitalism, or economic thought in general, from undergraduates through professionals. * Choice *Brilliant book . Into the central thread of her argument, Ellen Meiksins Wood has woven a wonderfully rich texture of comment on the arguments and debates that preceded her . not just a valuable new interpretation of an old history, it carries important lessons for our own times. * Spokesman *Ellen showed so many of us what it means to be a committed intellectual - that it is possible to be intensely moral and relentlessly analytical; to be passionate but still work with a cool attention to detail; to be profoundly rooted in a movement but maintain one's independent judgment. -- Vivek Chibber * Jacobin *True to her roots as the child of Jewish socialist refugees from Latvia, Ellen proudly positioned herself on the side of the poor and the oppressed, celebrating those who have fought for a more democratic and egalitarian society. -- David McNally * The Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''It''s often said that books are compulsory reading, but this book really is compulsory. You cannot understand slavery, or British Empire, without it'' Sathnam Sanghera Arguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain''s economic progress, Eric Williams''s landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism, and has influenced generations of historians ever since.Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision. Most significantly, he showed how slavery was only abolished when it ceased to become financially viable, exploding the myth of emancipation as a mark of Britain''s moral progress.''Its thesis is a starting point for a new generation of scholarship'' New YorkerTrade ReviewA classic critique * Guardian *Groundbreaking * New York Review of Books *A landmark study * Wall Street Journal *It's often said that books are compulsory reading, but this book really is compulsory. You cannot understand slavery, or British Empire, without it. -- Sathnam Sanghera * author of Empireland *This book, recommended to me by a Jamaican fellow-student in 1968, changed my view of the world. It was the first time I was brought up hard and fast, face to face, with how modern Britain developed off the back of the transatlantic slave trade and the wealth created from the labour of slavery -- Michel RosenThe slave trade built capital for the slave-owning Empire, on which the Industrial Revolution was formed. The slave trade was abolished not because of moral outrage but because of a decline in returns. Slavery and capitalism are linked, and Williams launches a full frontal attack on it in this classic, which first appeared almost a century ago. Essential reading for anyone who wishes to know more about the Caribbean. -- Monique Roffey * author of The Mermaid of Black Conch *Wherever you stand on the legacies of slavery and colonialism, Williams' elegant, passionate analysis is simply inescapable. Essential reading for anyone who really cares about history. -- Trevor PhillipsA vital, urgent read. A forensic examination of the system behind systemic racism. Eric Williams succinctly sets out how racism, and all its implications, injustices and inhumanities, was a harrowing repercussion of slavery, invented as a justification for lining a few dead men's pockets -- Nick Hayes * author of Trespass *There can be no effective understanding of modernity and the post-colonial world without an engagement with Eric Williams' Capitalism and Slavery. This is where the rubber hits the road. -- Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West IndiesNo historian of colonialism or slavery can ignore Eric Williams. This book endures as a seminal moment in the historiography of the British Empire -- Michael Taylor * author of The Interest *Groundbreaking and inspiring - a gripping, brilliantly original analysis of British slavery, racism, and the enduring legacies of imperialism -- Fara Dabhoiwala, Princeton UniversitySince Capitalism and Slavery was first published some eighty years ago, no writer on the subject has been able to ignore it. It is a true classic -- Hakim Adi, University of Chichester * author of Pan-Africanism: A History *A superb book about the history of the transatlantic slave trade that basically became a manifesto for the independence of Williams's own country ... Williams is an extraordinary figure, particularly if you're interested in the way certain kinds of observations of injustice can motivate research by historians that, ultimately, lead to massive political change. -- William A. Pettigrew, Professor of History, Lancaster UniversityFew books stand the test of time and remain a catalyst for continuing historiographical debate. Capitalism and Slavery on all accounts is one of these rare books. -- Anthony Bogues, Asa Messer Professor of Humanities & Critical Theory and Inaugural Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice, Brown UniversityCapitalism and Slavery sparked a scholarly conversation that has yet to die down. In many ways, the debates it generated are more vibrant now than ever and promise to be a lasting touchstone for historians well into the future. -- Guy Emerson Mount, assistant professor of African American history, Auburn University * Black Perspectives *Few works of history have exerted as powerful an influence as Capitalism and Slavery. -- Steven Mintz, Professor of History & member of the Society of American Historians, the University of Texas at AustinWilliams's masterwork is so rich with ideas and historical insights that it still speaks to today's historiography. -- Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies, University of HoustonIt is a work of conceptual brilliance, intellectually mature, bold, incisive, and immensely provocative... Capitalism and Slavery will remain a historical treasure. -- Colin A. Palmer, Dodge Professor of History and African American studies at Princeton UniversityOne of the most learned, most penetrating and most significant [pieces of work] that has appeared in this field of history. -- Henry Steele Commager, Professor of History, New York UniversityEric Williams's study identifies many of the sinners and the sins committed in the building of British and global capitalism ... Capitalism and Slavery makes us stare down that history and compels us to seek redress from the relevant culpable parties -- Professor William A. Darity, Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics, Duke University

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Book SynopsisFrom an award-winning financial historian comes the gripping, character-driven story of venture capital and the world it madeInnovations rarely come from experts. Jeff Bezos was not a bookseller; Elon Musk was not in the auto industry. When it comes to innovation, a legendary venture capitalist told Sebastian Mallaby, the future cannot be predicted, it can only be discovered. Most attempts at discovery fail, but a few succeed at such a scale that they more than make up for everything else. That extreme ratio of success and failure is the power law that drives venture capital, Silicon Valley, the tech sector, and, by extension, the world.Drawing on unprecedented access to the most celebrated venture capitalists of all time, award-winning financial historian Sebastian Mallaby tells the story of this strange tribe of financiers who have funded the world''s most successful companies, from Google to SpaceX to Alibaba. With a riveting blend of storytelling and analysis, The Power Law makes sense of the seeming randomness of success in venture capital, an industry that relies, for good and ill, on gut instinct and personality rather than spreadsheets and data. We learn the unvarnished truth about some of the most iconic triumphs and infamous disasters in the history of tech, from the comedy of errors that was the birth of Apple to the venture funding that fostered hubris at WeWork and Uber to the industry''s notorious lack of women and ethnic minorities.Now the power law echoes around the world: it has transformed China''s digital economy beyond recognition, and London is one of the top cities for venture capital investment. By taking us so deeply into the VCs'' game, The Power Law helps us think about our own future through their eyes.Trade ReviewMallaby, an astute chronicler of modern capitalism, [...]writes with humour and historical sweep... His account is immensely enriched by interviews with most if not all of the rainmakers in venture capital -- Lionel Barber * Prospect *Sebastian Mallaby has done what many people would have thought it impossible to do: write a gripping book about the modern history of venture capital... Well-argued and compelling... A superb introduction to an important subject -- Paul Seabright * TLS *[An] entertaining history... If you want to understand a world in which a handful of coders became richer than most countries, this is an invaluable guide -- Sam Freedman * Sunday Times *In his well-researched book, leavened by lively portraits of leading figures, Mr Mallaby explores the history of the VC industry and the reasons for its vitality -- John Thornhill * Economist *Thoroughly magnificent... Seriously great, and wildly important... It would be difficult to find a more important book than Mallaby's in 2022, and most any year for that matter -- John Tammy * Forbes *Sebastian Mallaby sets off into the world of venture capital and the strange bunch of financiers behind some of the most successful companies. It's a tale of triumphs but also major failures, hubris and jaw-dropping eccentricity -- 'Books to look out for in 2022' * Financial Times *[An] absorbing new history of startup investing -- Liam Proud * Reuters *[Mallaby] brings his trademark mixture of exhaustive research and clear analysis to his most interesting subject so far -- Adrian Wooldridge * Bloomberg *Venture capital has influenced the American economy for over half-a-century now, and finally we have a book of exceptional reporting, analysis and storytelling to bring that history to life. What makes Sebastian Mallaby's The Power Law a classic is how deeply it takes us into VC's defining successes and failures - which are much harder to get anyone to talk frankly about. I'm not sure this is the book of VCs' dreams, but it's what the rest of us have been waiting for -- Charles DuhiggA fascinating journey through the tightly networked world of the venture capitalists who make Silicon Valley tick, from the scrappy dealmakers of the 1960s to the high-flying global investors of today. Filled with eye-opening case studies and vivid personalities, frank in its analysis of the industry's greatest strengths and most dangerous blind spots, The Power Law is essential reading for understanding our tech-driven economy and where it might go next -- Professor Margaret O’Mara, University of WashingtonAs we face urgent man-made existential challenges from climate change to economic inequality, Sebastian Mallaby shows that the capitalists of Silicon Valley are shaping the future in ways few understand. In The Power Law he takes us inside their rarified world, showing the possibilities and shortcomings of their big egos and big bets. Mallaby's deep access enables us to get a rare and unsettling look inside a subculture of unparalleled influence -- Jane Mayer, Chief Washington Correspondent, The New YorkerIf you can read only one book on venture capital, this is the one. The Power Law narrates the evolution of venture capital from its origins in Silicon Valley to its emergence in China by following the ambitious and often idiosyncratic investors who finance risky new ventures while recognizing that success is rare, but transformative. The book is a fascinating read, and illustrates well one of its core themes, that venture capital is a network that straddles and offers the virtues of both markets and corporations -- Professor AnnaLee SaxenianThis book is a powerful combination of careful research and great storytelling. Sebastian Mallaby portrays many of the world's most successful venture capitalists but also shows how the industry has evolved and why it has become a major source of innovation in our economies. Highly informative and fun to read -- Baroness Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics and Political ScienceEveryone talks about venture capital. We glorify it, we vilify it, and everywhere outside Silicon Valley envies it. At last we have a storyteller with the intelligence to understand venture capital, the diligence to dig out some astonishing tales, and the eloquence to make the journey of discovery such a pleasure. This is a superb book -- Tim Harford, author of HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UPIn this fascinating study of venture capitalists, Sebastian Mallaby explains why they invest with the sole purpose of winning the jackpot while the rest of us are advised to invest cautiously. A compelling story of flesh and blood financiers, sprinkled with insights from which all economists could learn -- Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of EnglandHeavyweight and richly detailed, [The Power Law] is both a careering ride through the chaos of startup culture and a sober assessment of how the relationship between founders and their financiers has evolved -- Mike Jakeman * Strategy+Business *A must-read for anyone seeking to understand modern-day Silicon Valley and even our economy writ large... Phenomenally detailed and engaging -- Bethany McLean * Washington Post *A gripping fly-on-the-wall story of the rise of this unique and important industry based on extensive interviews with some of the most successful venture capitalists . . . Mr. Mallaby writes a fast-paced narrative. He also has a journalist's eye for revealing details -- Daniel Rasmussen * Wall Street Journal *Sweeping and authoritative . . . tells an undercovered tale * Financial Times *Sebastian Mallaby is the master of unspooling human drama from financial systems. Here, the venture capitalists are the protagonists. Whether it's financiers scrambling to court a pajama-wearing young Mark Zuckerberg or venture capitalist Bill Gurley's efforts to oust Uber founder Travis Kalanick from the company, the stories are almost Shakespearean in their depictions of ambition, jealousy and ego * NPR Books *

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Ian Williams tells the terrifying story of China's vampire economy and the single-minded and ruthless policy of the Party to bend economics and business to its own will. All this is part of realising President Xi Jinping's ambition of China becoming the world's pre-eminent economic, technological and military power.

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Book SynopsisSelected from the books Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah HarariHow did money come to be invented? Why does it now have such significance in our lives? Does it make us happier or unhappier? And what does the future hold for it? With brilliant clarity and insight, Yuval Noah Harari takes the reader on a journey from the very first coins through to 21st century economics and shows us how we are all on the brink of a revolution, whether we like it or not. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Home by Salman RushdieBabies by Anne EnrightEating by Nigella LawsonDrinking by John Cheever

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Book SynopsisThe definitive guide to the history of economic thought, fully revised twenty years after first publicationRoger Backhouse's definitive guide takes the story of economic thinking from the ancient world to the present day, with a brand-new chapter on the twenty-first century and updates throughout to reflect the latest scholarship.Covering topics including globalisation, inequality, financial crises and the environment, Backhouse brings his breadth of expertise and a contemporary lens to this original and insightful exploration of economics, revealing how we got to where we are today.

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Book Synopsis''This book flips your world upside down. Daniel Markovits argues that meritocracy isn''t a virtuous, efficient system that rewards the best and brightest. Instead it rewards middle-class families who can afford huge investments in their children''s education ... Frightening, eye-opening stuff'' The Times, Books of the Year Even in the midst of runaway economic inequality and dangerous social division, it remains an axiom of modern life that meritocracy reigns supreme and promises to open opportunity to all. The idea that reward should follow ability and effort is so entrenched in our psyche that, even as society divides itself at almost every turn, all sides can be heard repeating meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we think we are.But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy''s successes.This is the radical argument that The Meritocracy Trap prosecutes with rare force, comprehensive research, and devastating persuasion. Daniel Markovits, a law professor trained in philosophy and economics, is better placed than most to puncture one of the dominant ideas of our age. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within, as well as how we can take the first steps towards a world that might afford us both prosperity and dignity.

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Book SynopsisA fun take on some of the biggest questions in economics, made accessible for non-experts (and dogs)Trade Review'A truly delightful scamper through economic ideas and history.' -- Niall Kishtainy, author of A Little History of Economics‘I have read many introductions to economics, none as entertaining and readily accessible as this one. Monty, you’re a lucky dog to have such wonderful teachers!’ -- Alexander Pepper, professor of management practice, LSE'An engaging and at times touching book' -- John Crace * The Guardian *‘Economics concepts can often be difficult to grasp, but the authors have done an admirable job of explaining them in plain language … This is one of the few books on economics that works as a textbook while remaining actually readable!’ -- Terry Freedman, Teach Secondary'Enjoyable... This undemanding presentation serves equally well as an introduction or a refresher course and will especially appeal to readers who appreciate their learning enhanced with a bit of whimsy' * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisA sweeping history of the full range of human labor Few authors are able to write cogently in both the scientific and the economic spheres. Even fewer possess the intellectual scope needed to address science and economics at a macro as well as a micro level. But Paul Cockshott, using the dual lenses of Marxist economics and technological advance, has managed to pull off a stunningly acute critical perspective of human history, from pre-agricultural societies to the present. In How the World Works, Cockshott connects scientific, economic, and societal strands to produce a sweeping and detailed work of historical analysis. This book will astound readers of all backgrounds and ages; it will also will engage scholars of history, science, and economics for years to come.

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Book SynopsisA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND FORTUNE MAGAZINE. The epic story of how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history. In 2015, rumours began circulating that billions of dollars had been stolen from a Malaysian investment fund. The mastermind of the heist was twenty-seven-year-old Jho Low, a serial fabulist from an upper-middle-class Malaysian family, who had carefully built his reputation as a member of the jet-setting elite by arranging and financing elaborate parties for Wall Street bankers, celebrities, and even royalty. With the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, Low stole billions of dollars, right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. He used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and bankroll Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. Billion Dollar Whale reveals how this silver-tongued con man, a ‘modern Gatsby’, emerged from obscurity to pull off one of the most audacious financial heists the world has ever seen, and how the financial industry let him. It is a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.Trade Review‘An extraordinary tale … richly woven … with dogged reporting … Like all good business stories, Billion Dollar Whale is bigger than the immediate one it tells. It is a story of emerging markets crippled by corruption and cronyism and comes from the era of egregious — and mostly punishment-free — banking … One thing is clear. If ever Hollywood gets round to telling the story on screen, here is perfect material for the script.’ * Financial Times *‘If you like global intrigue, financial crime, wealth porn, and absurdity, Billion Dollar Whale, by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, is for you … It almost seems made up. Still, anyone who has followed the news out of Malaysia will know that the story is all too real.’ * The New Yorker *‘As Bad Blood is to biotech, Billion Dollar Whale is to international finance … a wonderful read … Thrilling.’ -- Bill Gates‘An impeccably researched book.’ -- Matthew Valencia * The Economist *‘One of the best business books in a long time.’ * Brian Sullivan, CNBC *‘What a blast to read! A true life thriller that reads like a Hollywood movie, Billion Dollar Whale traces the exploits of the most mercurial, mysterious big player in history. Jho Low is Gatsby with twice the bank account and ten times the ambition, and the stories surrounding his exploits leap right off the page!’ * Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down The House *‘I couldn’t put it down.’ -- Pete Tong * The Times *‘One of the most important books of 2018.’ * MoneyLaundering.com *‘Wright and Hope deliver a scintillating and prodigiously reported tale of a globe-spanning modern Gatsby and his audacious fraud.’ * Jesse Eisinger, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for ProPublica and author of The Chickenshit Club *‘This story of a Wharton graduate who carried out the $5 billion swindle known as 1MDB offers a textbook case of financial fraud in the modern age.’ * New York Times *‘A rip-roaring case in kleptocracy.’ * The Economist *‘An incredible story … If you need some billionaires to despise—look no further than these charlatans.’ * Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit *‘Even the most skilled fiction writer would have trouble conjuring the corrupt and colorful protagonist of Billion Dollar Whale. Bradley Hope and Tom Wright's gripping portrait of Jho Low and his enablers throughout the global financial system will both fascinate and enrage you.’ * Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer at The New Yorker and New York Times bestselling author of Black Edge *‘The story of a massive international financial scandal … As the authors amply prove, the scandal reaches far beyond Low. To succeed, he relied on the naivete, greed, and generally immoral conduct of huge banks as well as corrupt governments.’ * Kirkus *‘Wright and Hope transform their investigation of a mind-boggling financial fraud into a nonfiction thriller … This is an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale.’ STARRED REVIEW * Publishers Weekly *‘An amazing tale of greed … juicy and entertaining.’ STARRED REVIEW * Library Journal *‘Well-researched and well-documented … Reveals how Low used a bag of tricks, including financial fraud, to make himself seem more powerful, more influential, and more successful than he actually was … This is a must-read.’ * Booklist *‘Billion Dollar Whale does more than dissect a financial fraud of epic proportions; it takes the reader on a fascinating journey inside the heart of a con that was years in the making. Wright and Hope show how perception becomes reality in the hands of a consummate financial illusionist. Billion Dollar Whale proves once again that truth is stranger than fiction.’ -- Gregory A. Coleman, retired FBI Special Agent; Case Agent, ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Investigation‘The authors strike a good balance between keeping Low’s story at the centre and making it clear that 1MDB was a scandal waiting to happen … they also provide some telling anecdotes.’ * Money Week *‘I highly recommend this rip-roaring story of brazen fraud … political corruption … and investment-banker callousness.’ * Adam Lashinsky, Fortune *‘Jaw dropping.’ -- Ed Needham * Strong Words *‘Gripping … The heist of the century.’ * Axios *‘Take one chubby Malaysian business school graduate. Mix with Middle Eastern sheikhs and greedy Southeast Asian politicians. Add Wall Street investment banks, law firms and Swiss wealth managers. Then mix in superyachts, five-star hotels, luxury apartments, nightclubs, models, A-list movie stars — and bathtubs of champagne … [This] richly reported page-turner is meticulously pieced together from interviews, documents and emails by Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.’ * Peter Thal Larsen, Reuters *‘Compelling.’ * Minneapolis Star Tribune *‘A wonderful book … A rip-roaring, absolutely delightful account of one of the biggest financial cons in the history of the world … If you liked Bad Blood, you might well enjoy Billion Dollar Whale … An incredible story of a con artist at the height of his game.’ * David Plotz, Slate “Political Gabfest” *‘A cracking read.’ * Unreserved Media *‘An incredible story.’ * Knowledge@Wharton *‘Just finished reading Billion Dollar Whale and was blown away. I thought I had seen it all with Russian kleptocracy, but the story of the money stolen in Malaysia in 1MDB and all the enthusiastic Western enablers was unbelievable.’ -- Bill Browder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Notice‘This thrilling true story reads like a Hollywood movie.’ * Sheerluxe Man *

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Book Synopsis'The contribution made by American capitalism to German war preparations can only be described as phenomenal. It was certainly crucial to German military capabilities...Not only was an influential sector of American business aware of the nature of Naziism, but for its own purposes aided Naziism wherever possible (and profitable) - with full knowledge that the probable outcome would be war involving Europe and the United States'. Penetrating a cloak of falsehood, deception and duplicity, Professor Antony C. Sutton reveals one of the most remarkable but unreported facts of the Second World War: that key Wall Street banks and American businesses supported Hitler's rise to power by financing and trading with Nazi Germany. Carefully tracing this closely guarded secret through original documents and eyewitness accounts, Sutton comes to the unsavoury conclusion that the catastrophic Second World War was extremely profitable for a select group of financial insiders. He presents a thoroughly documented account of the role played by J.P. Morgan, T.W. Lamont, the Rockefeller interests, General Electric Company, Standard Oil, National City Bank, Chase and Manhattan banks, Kuhn, Loeb and Company, General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, and scores of others in helping to prepare the bloodiest, most destructive war in history. This classic study, first published in 1976 - the third volume of a trilogy - is reproduced here in its original form. The other volumes in the series study the 1917 Lenin-Trotsky Revolution in Russia and the 1933 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States.Trade Review'Sutton comes to conclusions that are uncomfortable for many businessmen and economists. For this reason his work tends to be either dismissed out of hand as extremeA" or, more often, simply ignored.' - Richard Pipes, Baird Professor Emeritus of History, Harvard University (quoted from Survival Is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America's Future)Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Unexplored Facets of Naziism PART ONE: Wall Street Builds Nazi Industry Chapter One Wall Street Paves the Way for Hitler 1924: The Dawes Plan 1928: The Young Plan B.I.S. - The Apex of Control Building the German Cartels Chapter Two The Empire of I.G. Farben The Economic Power of I.G. Farben Polishing I.G. Farben's Image The American I.G. Farben Chapter Three General Electric Funds Hitler General Electric in Weimar, Germany General Electric & the Financing of Hitler Technical Cooperation with Krupp A.E.G. Avoids the Bombs in World War II Chapter Four Standard Oil Duels World War II Ethyl Lead for the Wehrmacht Standard Oil and Synthetic Rubber The Deutsche-Amerikanische Petroleum A.G. Chapter Five I.T.T. Works Both Sides of the War Baron Kurt von Schroder and I.T.T. Westrick, Texaco, and I.T.T. I.T.T. in Wartime Germany PART TWO: Wall Street and Funds for Hitler Chapter Six Henry Ford and the Nazis Henry Ford: Hitler's First Foreign Banker Henry Ford Receives a Nazi Medal Ford Assists the German War Effort Chapter Seven Who Financed Adolf Hitler? Some Early Hitler Backers Fritz Thyssen and W.A. Harriman Company Financing Hitler in the March 1933 Elections The 1933 Political Contributions Chapter Eight Putzi: Friend of Hitler and Roosevelt Putzi's Role in the Reichstag Fire Roosevelt's New Deal and Hitler's New Order Chapter Nine Wall Street and the Nazi Inner Circle The S.S. Circle of Friends I.G. Farben and the Keppler Circle Wall Street and the S.S. Circle Chapter Ten The Myth of "Sidney Warburg" Who Was "Sidney Warburg"? Synopsis of the Suppressed "Warburg" Book James Paul Warbur's Affidavit Some Conclusions from the "Warburg" Story Chapter Eleven Wall Street-Nazi Collaboration in World War II American I.G. in World War II Were American Industrialists and Financiers Guilty of War Crimes? Chapter Twelve Conclusions The Pervasive Influence of International Bankers Is the United States Ruled by a Dictatorial Elite? The New York Elite as a Subversive Force The Slowly Emerging Revisionist Truth Appendix A Program of the National Socialist German Workers Party Appendix B Affidavit of Hjalmar Schacht Appendix C Entries in the "National Trusteeship" Account Appendix D Letter from the U.S. War Department to Ethyl Corporation Appendix E Extract from Morgenthau Diary (Germany) Footnotes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis**THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER** The most recognisable economist on the planet, Yanis Varoufakis, puts forth his case to reform an EU that currently fails it weakest citizens. In this startling account of Europe’s economic rise and catastrophic fall, Varoufakis pinpoints the flaws in the European Union’s design – a design thought up after the Second World War, and one responsible for Europe’s fragmentation and resurgence of racist extremism. When the financial crisis struck in 2008, the political elite’s response ensured it would be the weakest citizens of the weakest nations that paid the price for the bankers’ mistakes. Drawing on his personal experience of negotiations with the eurozone’s financiers, and offering concrete policies to reform Europe, the former finance minister of Greece shows how we concocted this mess and points our way out of it. And The Weak Suffer What They Must? highlights our history to tell us what we must do to save European capitalism and democracy from the abyss. With the future of Europe under intense scrutiny after Brexit, this is the must-read book to explain Europe's structural flaws and how to fix them. 'If you ever doubt what is at stake in Europe - read Varoufakis's account' GuardianTrade ReviewIf you ever doubt what is at stake in Europe, read Varoufakis’s account * Guardian *An outstanding economist and political analyst. His remarkable talents are fully on display in his recent study of Europe’s crisis, a most revealing and perceptive analysis of the development of the global economy in the past half century and their grim consequences now threatening Western societies -- Noam ChomskyAn absolutely splendid book… What Yanis really shows is that the European project had a democratic deficit from the origin and design… The Thucydides of our time -- Jeffrey SachsOne of my few heroes...his achievements are incredibly important…to save what is worth fighting for in Europe…Yanis tried to do the right thing – to remain within the EU and disturb from within. That is why he was such a threat…wonderfully written, complex, a book which is set to provoke our rage…to make us think, and that’s what we need today. As long as people like Yanis are around, there still is hope -- Slavoj ZizekOne of my few heroes...his achievements are incredibly important…to save what is worth fighting for in Europe…Yanis tried to do the right thing – to remain within the EU and disturb from within. That is why he was such a threat…wonderfully written, complex, a book which is set to provoke our rage…to make us think, and that’s what we need today. As long as people like Yanis are around, there still is hope -- Slavoj ZizekA very, very clever person, and in the basic argument about what’s been going on in Europe I think he’s right -- Martin WolfA devastating account -- Andrew MarrA scholar, writer, philosopher of clarity, insight, generosity and engaging prose, not to mention integrity and courage -- James GalbraithA brilliant economist * Bloomberg *Few finance ministers have such a talent for economics as Yanis Varoufakis -- Joseph Stiglitz, Winner of the Nobel Prize for EconomicsHighly readable. It is also important, outlining a perspective on global economics that influences policy thinking in broader circles than the radical left ... deeply instructive * Financial Times *The most interesting man in the world * Business Insider *The emerging rock star of Europe’s anti-austerity uprising * Telegraph *It is important to take note of the ideas that Varoufakis continues to espouse … the essence of [his] agenda was – and remains – largely correct -- Mohamed El-ErianA man of integrity and intellectual honesty … a superb monetary economist whose credentials outshine those who have bewitched European governmental elites… His economic logic was irrefutable -- Professor Michael BrennerHe writes with great panache ... and in a gripping style … One of the things that makes this book enjoyable is that Varoufakis makes much of the role of personalities * TLS *An account of how the forces of capital have prevailed over the common good ... visionary * The Times *A global celebrity * Economist *The biggest disaster for any of the BBC’s news and current affairs slate would be The Yanis Varoufakis Show on another network -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *While this British Conservative minister might not agree with every single position adopted by this Greek radical socialist, I cannot but admire and applaud his courage and passion on behalf of genuinely progressive causes -- Michael Gove * Sunday Times *The reason Varoufakis seems to have captured the imaginations of so many is that his words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy * Guardian *Like all great story tellers, Varoufakis’ literary flair is not just a function of stylistic prowess. He gets right inside the fears, desires and external constraints of the key players in the complex history of the Eurozone … Reading And The Weak Suffer What They Must? is like reading a gripping thriller. It is a page turner because the plot itself is a relentless sequence of astonishing twists and turns driven by the cunning ingenuity and hubristic folly of its key protagonists … This book is not just illuminating. It is a call to moral awakening and to intelligent, determined and humane political action * Open Democracy *

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Book Synopsis''Forget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain ... You will not find a better informed history'' David Goodhart, Evening Standard''A striking new perspective on our past'' Piers Brendon, Literary ReviewFrom the acclaimed author of Britain''s War Machine and The Shock of the Old, a bold reassessment of Britain''s twentieth century.It is usual to see the United Kingdom as an island of continuity in an otherwise convulsed and unstable Europe; its political history a smooth sequence of administrations, from building a welfare state to coping with decline. Nobody would dream of writing the history of Germany, say, or the Soviet Union in this way. David Edgerton''s major new history breaks out of the confines of traditional British national history to redefine what it was to British, and to reveal an unfamiliar place, subject to huge disruptions. This was noTrade ReviewEvery so often a book comes out that the entire political class needs to read ... Edgerton is Britain's most exciting and arresting late-modern historian ... Thanks to this rich and compelling book, we now have a proper map and compass. -- Colin Kidd * New Statesman *A fierce and dazzling account of 20th-century Britain -- Christopher de Bellaigue * Guardian *An extraordinary revisionist study of modern Britain ... Edgerton's aim here is nothing short of a radical repositioning of our sense of ourselves as a nation. It's a startling book, and an unexpected thesis ... I'll be reading [it] over and over, and for years to come.' -- Brian Morton * The Herald *Forget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain in the 20th century ... You will not find a better informed history of this country in the last century. -- David Goodhart * Evening Standard *Stimulating and bracing ... He demonstrates that the story the British tell about themselves - and how it is taught in schools and discussed in the public sphere - is bogus. -- Iain Martin * The Times *Unsentimental and rigorous rewriting of British history. ... It looks beyond the froth of political debate, takes business seriously and analyses government as much from Whitehall and administration as Westminster and politics. -- A. W. Purdue * Times Higher Education *Beautifully written and can be read with pleasure by the general reader as well as the trained historian -- Vernon Bogdanor * Daily Telegraph *Original, opinionated, scholarly, complex and immensely stimulating ... this ambitious and provocative book achieves something remarkable. It provides a striking new perspective on our past, one that future historians may not accept but will be unable to ignore. -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review *A sweepingly, and ambitiously, revisionist account of 20th century British history ... full of striking lines ... and a very important challenge to much of the existing historiography. -- Duncan Weldon * Progressive Review *Timely jolt to a deluded 'Bullshit Britain'. David Edgerton fillets national delusion and historical amnesia ... of a country that knows so little of its own history. -- Chris Kissane * Irish Times *Edgerton is an extraordinary historian ... Written with bracing élan, Rise and Fall generates insights at every turn. Edgerton set out to rattle "the cage of clichés which imprison our historical and political imaginations", and succeeds magnificently. -- Nick Pearce * OpenDemocracy *... refreshing and immensely stimulating, and should be compulsory reading for anyone wanting to understand the reality of twentieth-century Britain. Lewis Namier, another historian known for his combative brand of scholarship, viewed iconoclasm as the judge of a great historian, that having produced an account of a period 'others should not be able to practise within its sphere in the terms of the preceding era'. Edgerton has certainly achieved this. -- Oliver Hadingham * History *

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Book SynopsisWhy is it that some countries become rich while others remain poor? Do markets require regulation to function efficiently? If markets offer an efficient way of exchanging goods, why do individuals even create firms? How are economic transactions organized in the absence of a state that could enforce contracts and guarantee property rights? Institutional economics has allowed social scientists to answer many fundamental questions about the organization and functioning of societies. This introduction to institutional economics is concise, yet easy to understand. It not only caters to students of economics but to anybody interested in this topical research area and its specific subfields. Both formal and informal institutions (such as customs, habits, and traditions) are discussed with respect to their causes and consequences, highlighting the important part they play for economic growth and development.Trade Review'This book covers both contemporary and historical thinking on topics which are at the core of our understanding of how markets and governments work. Although grounded in economics research and thinking, it is written in a way that makes it accessible to a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds.' Timothy Besley, W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics, London School of Economics'The literature on institutional economics is vast. This book isn't just the place to start, it will take you all the way to the research frontier. An authoritative survey.' James A. Robinson, University of ChicagoTable of ContentsPreface; Introduction; 1. The basics; 2. Simple transactions; 3. Repeated and long-term transactions: on the choice of governance structures with given institutions; 4. Institutions and collective action; 5. The relevance of institutions for growth and development; 6. Explaining differences in external institutions across societies; 7. Explaining change in internal institutions; 8. On the need for normative theory; 9. Consequences for economic policy; 10. Outlook.

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Book SynopsisThe first book of its kind: a fascinating and entertaining examination of hedge funds todayShortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award''An enormously satisfying book: a gripping chronicle of the cutting edge of the financial markets and a fascinating perspective on what was going on in these shadowy institutions as the crash hit'' ObserverWealthy, powerful, and potentially dangerous, hedge-find managers have emerged as the stars of twenty-first century capitalism. Based on unprecedented access to the industry, More Money Than God provides the first authoritative history of hedge funds. This is the inside story of their origins in the 1960s and 1970s, their explosive battles with central banks in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally their role in the financial crisis of 2007-9.Hedge funds reward risk takers, so they tend to attract larger-than-life personalities. Jim Simons began life as a code-breaker anTrade Review‘The best account ever published of the economics, politics and adrenalin of these amazing firms. It shows why hedge funds dominate the world of finance and why the politicians who rail against them end up making them more powerful' * Anatole Kaletsky *‘A warts-and-all history of hedge funds...a splendid account of the ups and downs of an industry in which few of the twenty-something hedge-fund wannabes know their history. They, and meddling politicians, should read this book before they are condemned to repeat it' * Financial Times *An enormously satisfying book: a gripping chronicle of the cutting edge of the financial markets and a fascinating perspective on what was going on in these shadowy institutions as the crash hit * Observer *‘A superbly researched history of hedge-fund heroes stretching back to the 1950s, it is a fascinating tale of the contrarian and cerebral misfits who created successful, flexible businesses in an otherwise conventional financial world' * Economist *

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Book SynopsisJohan Norberg is a historian, lecturer and commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington DC and his books have been translated into thirty languages. His books include the international bestseller Progress and Open, which was an Economist book of the year. Norberg regularly writes for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Reason and HuffPost.

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Book SynopsisThe Irish potato famine of the 1840s, perhaps the most appalling event of the Victorian era, killed over a million people and drove as many more to emigrate to America. It may not have been the result of deliberate government policy, yet British ‘obtuseness, short-sightedness and ignorance’ - and stubborn commitment to laissez-faire ‘solutions’ - largely caused the disaster and prevented any serious efforts to relieve suffering. The continuing impact on Anglo-Irish relations was incalculable, the immediate human cost almost inconceivable. In this vivid and disturbing book Cecil Woodham-Smith provides the definitive account. ‘A moving and terrible book. It combines great literary power with great learning. It explains much in modern Ireland - and in modern America’ D.W. Brogan.

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Book SynopsisChina’s dismantling of the Mao-era commune system under Deng Xiaoping has been seen as a successful turn away from a misguided social experiment. Joshua Eisenman marshals previously inaccessible data to overturn this narrative, showing that the commune modernized agriculture, increased productivity, and laid the foundation for future rapid growth.Trade ReviewIn this thought-provoking volume, Eisenman offers a unique analysis of China's most important local institution in Mao's time: the people's commune. * Choice *Mr. Eisenman calls for readers to look anew at one of the darker periods of human history. It's a worthy intellectual exercise and a useful check on lazy approaches to China's modern history. * Wall Street Journal *Joshua Eisenman brings a refreshing perspective to the field because his book challenges the mainstream evaluation – both inside and outside China – of the era of Mao Zedong. -- Mobo Gao * China Information *The book is well researched, drawing on careful readings of government documents, newspapers and other materials from the period. -- Li Zhang * Journal of Asian Studies *Incredibly well-researched . . . Red China’s Green Revolution is a fascinating book. -- Fabio Lanza * Asia Maior *This book is unquestionably well-researched. -- Brian DeMare * Journal of Chinese History *Exceptionally written. -- John A. Donaldson * Journal of Chinese Political Science *Red China’s Green Revolution is a great book. It develops an innovative and contrarian interpretation of China’s rural communes, describing a technological revolution that occurred in China’s countryside in the 1970s. What makes this book truly outstanding is that Eisenman provides new perspectives on the importance of commune organization and incentive structures, as well as a reassessment of what Maoism meant in the lives of ordinary rural people. One after another, he drags into the sunshine topics that have been overshadowed in recent years by over-simplification and myth-making. The book concludes with a compelling new narrative of elite politics in the late 1970s that explains why the commune was ultimately abolished. -- Barry Naughton, Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs, University of California, San DiegoThis is a truly important book. Eisenman shows how the People’s Communes created contemporary China, both through what they built and through what they destroyed. His work is of enormous significance for anyone trying to understand China’s road from revolution to reform. -- Odd Arne Westad, S. T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard UniversityRed China’s Green Revolution revolutionizes our understanding of the Maoist period and history's biggest experiment with collective agriculture. It challenges the widely held view that the commune was a failure that required privatization, and thus calls into question the very basis by which structural reforms have been legitimated and propagated to shape economic development, not just in China, but around the globe. Everyone who studies contemporary China—and, indeed, the entire neo-liberal project—must confront this book. -- Marc Blecher, James Monroe Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies, Oberlin CollegeRed China’s Green Revolution totally remakes our understanding of Chinese economic development on the eve of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. This carefully documented study shows that rather than being a total failure on the verge of collapse, the commune system introduced under Mao actually resulted in considerable increases in agricultural productivity, which provided a positive foundation for Deng’s economic reforms. Joshua Eisenman opens the way for an important reconsideration of how political motivations, rather than economic concerns, were a main driver behind Deng’s reforms. -- Edward A. McCord, George Washington UniversityJoshua Eisenman questions the conventional wisdom that China’s communes, which were failing institutions in the Great Leap Forward of 1958, continued to be so. Eisenman offers hard data to refute the conventional, quasi-official story that before 1978 China’s rural economy was in dire straits, requiring neoliberal efficiencies to fix it. -- Lynn T. White, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and IllustrationForeword, by Lynn T. White IIIPrologue: China’s Missing Institution1. Introduction: Assessing Commune Productivity Part I: Creating China’s Green Revolution2. Institutional Origins & Evolution 3. China’s Green Revolution Part II: Sources of Commune Productivity 4. Economics: Super-Optimal Investment 5. Politics: Maoism 6. Organization: Size and Structure 7. Burying the Commune 8. Conclusion Appendix A. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983Appendix B. National and Provincial Agricultural Production Data, 1949–1979Appendix C. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983NotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisA social, economic, planning, and global historyTrade ReviewWelwyn Garden City was the product of a distinctively British approach to urban reform that laid the foundation for a human-scaled urbanism of international importance. This authoritative and accessible book embeds this pedigree within a remarkably wide-ranging social history that acknowledges the contributions and voices of the community that called it home. -- Rob Freestone

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Book SynopsisAn alternative reading of the relationship between the state and smallholder peasants in mid-nineteenth-century EgyptThis book examines the rural history of Egypt during the middle years of the nineteenth century, a period that is often glossed over, or altogether forgotten. Drawing on a wide array of archival sources, some only rarely utilized by other scholars, it argues that state policy targeting the peasant land tenure regime was informed by the dual economic principles of the Ottoman, or traditional, philosophy of statecraft, and that the workings of the relevant regulations did not produce extensive peasant land loss and impoverishment.Maha Ghalwash presents a rich, detailed analysis of such crucial issues as land legislation, tax impositions, the system of tax collection, modes of land acquisition, large-scale peasant abandonment of land, the emergence of surplus lands, the formation of large, privileged estates, distribution of village land, female land inheritance, and the nature of peasants’ political activity. In investigating these issues, she highlights peasant voices, experiences, and agential power.Traditional interpretations of the rural history of nineteenth-century Egypt generally specify an avaricious state, so indifferent to peasant well-being that it consistently developed harsh policies that led to unremitting, extensive peasant impoverishment. Through an examination of the relationship between the absolutist state and the majority of its subject population, the peasant smallholders, during 1848–63, this study shows that these ideas do not hold for the mid-century period. State, Peasants, and Land in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Egypt will be of interest to students of Middle East history, especially Egyptian rural history, as well as those of peasant studies, subaltern studies, gender studies, and Ottoman rural history.Trade Review"Through examination of a remarkably rich collection of land registers, court records, government documents, and more, Maha Ghalwash weaves a nuanced and compelling narrative about Egyptian peasants during the mid-nineteenth century. She draws on the voices of the villagers, and how they negotiated with a centralized government, to introduce an alternative perspective on the nature of their relationship with the state. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of rural Egypt during a decisive period in the country’s modern state formation.”—Zeinab Abul-Magd, Oberlin College"An impressively thorough and meticulous book, which challenges the conventional wisdom and breaks new ground in our understandings of peasant land tenure and peasant–state relations in mid-nineteenth century Egypt."—John Chalcraft, London School of Economics and Political Science"This empirically driven study weaves together a critical reading of state policies with a close attention to peasant voices. Maha Ghalwash offers a vivid picture of rural society in mid-nineteenth-century Egypt that invites us to rethink the role of global markets, dynastic politics, notions of justice, and peasant agency. The result is a truly revisionist account of Egypt in the middle decades of the nineteenth century."—Khaled Fahmy, Tufts University“In this cogently argued and extensively documented survey, Maha Ghalwash sheds new light on a period of Egyptian history that is usually dismissed as static if not retrograde. Equally important, she enhances our understanding of the institutions and procedures of governance in Egypt’s agrarian provinces at a moment when private landholding and market dynamics were superseding communal property rights and overtly regulated transactions. Anyone who wishes to explore the multifaceted economic transformation that reconfigured the Middle East during the mid-nineteenth century can now complement path-breaking scholarship on Ottoman Syria and Anatolia with the arguably more consequential case of Khedival Egypt.”—Fred H. Lawson, Mills College“It is refreshing and reassuring to find a historian who bases her work on detailed archival research and who is unafraid to go against the political tides which see the rich and powerful—and modern capitalism—as an all-powerful evil force.”—Patrick Clawson, Middle East QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface List of Abbreviations Note on transliteration, spelling and dates Introduction 1. The Land Laws 2. Peasants and Taxes 3. System of Tax Collection 4. Land Tenure in Peasant Villages 5. Peasant Women and Inheritance of Land Conclusion Appendix I: The Distribution of Land in the Sample Villages:Distribution According to Different Categories Appendix II: The Impact of the Major Tax Codes on the FourSample Villages Appendix III: Egyptian Archival Sources Select BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAdam Smith, the founder of modern economics, believed that our actions stem from self-interest and the world turns because of financial gain. But every night Adam Smith's mother served him his dinner, not out of self-interest but out of love.Today, economics focuses on self-interest and excludes our other motivations. It disregards the unpaid work of mothering, caring, cleaning and cooking and its influence has spread from the market to how we shop, think and date. In this engaging takedown of the economics that has failed us, Katrine Marçal journeys from Adam Smith's dinner table to the recent financial crisis and shows us how different, how much better, things could be.Trade Review[A] spirited and witty manifesto... In commanding rhetoric punctuated with spiky wit... Marçal does not seek to yoke every last aspect of our lives to the tyranny of Homo economicus. Rather, she asks why we have fetishised the myth, and suggests that man denuded of his humanity is not such a figure to aspire to after all -- Caroline Criado-Perez * New Statesman *Polemical and entertaining * Observer *Smart, funny and readable -- Margaret AtwoodA welcome addition to a canon dominated by men. With feminist incisiveness [Marçal] looks at the mess we're in. Witty and perceptive -- Vanessa Baird * New Internationalist *Economics through a wholly different prism - challenging and illuminating -- Will Hutton, author * Them and Us *Incisive and witty, Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? seeks to restore a sense of humanity, empathy and care to our picture of economic and gender relations. Katrine Marçal's book is instructive, angry and funny: economic man has met his match -- Nina Power, author * One Dimensional Woman *[A] wise critique of current economics -- Lesley McDowell * Sunday Herald *Who cooked Adam Smith's dinner? His mother, of course. From this compelling insight, Katrine Marçal builds her critique of economic man, exposing him for the sham he really is. Erudite, furious, and eminently readable, this book will send a great many economists running for cover -- Philip Roscoe, author * I Spend Therefore I Am *Required reading for everyone on the left... buy it as a pledge to change the world -- Caroline Criado-Perez, author * Do It Like A Woman *Thought provoking -- Jessica Abrahams * Prospect *The book skewers "economic man" [...] with admirable wit and lightness of touch -- Nick Spencer * Tablet *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Best First Book Prize, Foundations of Political Theory section of the American Political Science Association""A fresh and splendidly clear guide to the intellectual history of monetary policy. . . . The Currency of Politics is an invaluable guide to why — and how to think about what comes next."---Felix Martin, Financial Times"Eich’s extraordinary book provides an essential guide to thinking about the politics of money." * Adam Tooze *"Eich offers a rich treatment of each historical episode. But the chapters on the two Englishmen, Locke and Keynes, stand out. . . . pathbreaking."---Jonathan Levy, Project Syndicate"Eich’s book is ultimately a call to revive democratic debate about money…this excellent book…does not tell us what to do, but he does show us something can be done."---Geoff Mann, New Statesman"A pathbreaking new intellectual history of monetary policy. In examining how key thinkers approached the economic crises of their respective times, Eich offers a map for navigating the politics of money today."---Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, The Nation"Eich’s work is sure to be a landmark in political science. His argument is bold and ambitious; his writing clear and engaging; and his message timely, persuasive and imperative."---Erik Jones, Survival"A deep ex­amination of the theoretical and political foundations of money that rescues the money discus­sion from economists."---Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Open Magazine"An intellectual history of money that theoretically grounds the works of others working on democratizing money. The Currency of Politics is a great addition to the philosophy of money."---Valerie Schreur, Oeconomia"A very good book. . . . Eich takes us on a fascinating journey."---Paul Sagar, Perspectives on Politics"Exquisitely written."---Jorge González-Gallarza, The Critic"Eich’s contribution demarcates a new space for political thought on money, and brings together key theorists on the structuration of money both to show that political thought often has a direct effect on the type of monetary system that is maintained, and to show that democratic agency vis-a-vis money is often wilfully ignored."---Dominic Burbidge, Politics and Poetics"[The Currency of Politics] fits well into the growing critical debate on neoliberal policies that have dominated the economic discussion in the latest decades. . . . [and] helps us to understand that monetary policy must be the prerogative of a healthy and fruitful public and thus political debate."---Giampaolo Conte, The Journal of European Economic History

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Book SynopsisA Financial Times Economics Book of the Year A brilliant narrative of early capitalism's most famous scandal, a speculative frenzy that nearly bankrupted the British state during the hot summer of 1720 – and paradoxically led to the birth of modern finance. The South Sea Company was formed to trade with Asian and Latin American countries. But it had almost no ships and did precious little trade. Instead it got into financial fraud on a massive scale, taking over the government's debt and promising to pay the state out of the money received from the shares it sold. And how they sold. In the summer of 1720 the share price rocketed and everyone was making money. Until the carousel stopped, and thousands lost their shirts. Isaac Newton, Alexander Pope and others lost heavily. Thomas Levenson's superb account of the South Sea Bubble is not just the story of a huge scam, but is also the story of the birth of modern financial capitalism: the idea that you can invest in future prosperity and that governments can borrow money to make things happen, like funding the rise of British naval and mercantile power. These dreamers and fraudsters may have bankrupted Britain, but they made the world rich. Praise for Money For Nothing: 'A scholar who makes complicated and subtle matters not just accessible but fun. Utterly relevant to the 2008 financial crisis and 2020 pandemic' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE 'Thoroughly researched and vibrantly written, Money For Nothing captures those heady, heartbreaking times, which still hold lessons for today' DAVID KAISER 'A gripping story of scientists and swindlers, all too pertinent to our modern world' JAMES GLEICK 'It's easy to look back and think of the South Sea bubblers, like the tulip-mad Dutch of the 1630s, as financially naive – until you remember how many people jumped in on various other more recent crazes (from Beanie Babies to Pets.com and Bitcoin). This is not a new tale, but Levenson tells it with a light touch' SPECTATORTrade ReviewSuperb, fascinating and totally timely, Money for Nothing is a gripping history of the South Sea Bubble by a scholar who makes complicated and subtle matters not just accessible but fun – the story of a world crisis with a flashy cast of grifters, scientists, politicians and charlatans that Levenson makes utterly relevant to the 2008 financial crisis and 2020 pandemic. Essential reading -- Simon Sebag MontefioreDoes a stockmarket crash and a plague sound somehow familiar? Leverson's new book is proof – very cleverly told – of how enlightening history can be. There is no excuse not to learn from the past -- Andrea WulfInspired by Isaac Newton's example, clever schemers sought to conquer the chaos of human affairs by abstracting financial value from tangible goods. Their calculations unleashed the notorious South Sea Bubble, which destroyed fortunes and roiled nations. Thoroughly researched and vibrantly written, Money for Nothing captures those heady, heartbreaking times, which still hold lessons for today -- David KaiserThomas Levenson is a brilliant synthesizer with a grand view of history. Here is the birth of modern finance amid catastrophe and fraud – a gripping story of scientists and swindlers, all too pertinent to our modern world -- James GleickA brilliant history of the South Sea Bubble, an astounding episode from the early days of financial markets that to this day continues to intrigue and perplex historians. Deeply researched and featuring a colorful cast of characters out of 18th century England – mathematical geniuses, unscrupulous financiers, greedy aristocrats, venal politicians – Money for Nothing is narrative history at its best, lively and fresh with new insights -- Liaquat AhamedThis erudite and entertaining history offers a fresh take on high finance * Publishers Weekly *An enthralling account of an economic revolution that emerged from a scandal * Kirkus Reviews *Levenson is very fluent in his descriptions... This is not a new tale, but Levenson tells it with a light touch' * Spectator *The book has helped me better understand a number of different institutions... If you want an embarkation point from which to understand the history of the City of London as a financial rather than simply mercantile or population centre then this book is a useful one, and one to whet your appetite' * London Historian's Blog. *A vivid account of the development of share trading in the coffee shops of Exchange Alley in the City, with fascinating asides such as Newton's extraordinarily modern management techniques when running the Royal Mint... A compelling read' * Financial Times. *Levenson is a talented writer * Money Week *A beautifully written account of the seminal bubble of capitalism * Financial Times *Levenson is a talented writer who does a good job explaining the complicated nature of the South Sea Company and how it paradoxically saved the British state from bankruptcy * Money Week *Levenson explored the murky tale in a wide ranging study of political intrigue, cultural attitudes and – his strength as a historian of science – the emergence of mathematical reasoning about the value of assets * BBC History Magazine *Levenson is very good on the deep history of the bubble... Building on recent scholarship and especially the work of his MIT colleague William Deringer, Levenson proposes instead that we see the era's scientific accomplishments and speculative bubbles as equal manifestations of a newly mathematical way of knowing and being' * TLS *

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Book SynopsisIn The Reckoning, award-winning historian Jacob Soll shows how the use and misuse of financial bookkeeping has determined the fates of entire societies. Time and again, Soll reveals, good and honest accounting has been a tool to build successful companies, states and empires. Yet when it is neglected or falls into the wrong hands, accounting has contributed to cycles of destruction that continue to this day. Combining rigorous scholarship and fresh storytelling, The Reckoning traces the surprisingly powerful influence of accounting on financial and political stability, from the powerful Medici bank in the 14th century Italy to the 2008 financial crisis.

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Book SynopsisThe Road to Serfdom remains one of the all-time classics of twentieth-century intellectual thought. For over half a century, it has inspired politicians and thinkers around the world, and has had a crucial impact on our political and cultural history. With trademark brilliance, Hayek argues convincingly that, while socialist ideals may be tempting, they cannot be accomplished except by means that few would approve of. Addressing economics, fascism, history, socialism and the Holocaust, Hayek unwraps the trappings of socialist ideology. He reveals to the world that little can result from such ideas except oppression and tyranny. Today, more than fifty years on, Hayek's warnings are just as valid as when The Road to Serfdom was first published.Trade Review'This book has become a true classic: essential reading for everyone who is seriously interested in politics in the broadest and least partisan sense.' - Milton Friedman'This book should be read by everybody. It is no use saying that there are a great many people who are not interested in politics; the political issue discussed by Dr Hayek concerns every single member of the community.' - The Listener'This book has become a true classic: essential reading for everyone who is seriously interested in politics in the broadest and least partisan sense.' - Milton Friedman'This book should be read by everybody. It is no use saying that there are a great many people who are not interested in politics; the political issue discussed by Dr Hayek concerns every single member of the community.' - The Listener

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Book SynopsisExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is the original guide to behavioural psychology - and how manias, follies and superstitions begin, spread and (eventually) pass.

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Book SynopsisThis Element provides an overview of pre-modern and ancient economies of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It analyzes the regions densely occupied semisedentary villages and its domestic and institutional economies, specialization, distribution, economic development, and future directions are reviewed.Table of Contents1. Introduction and Historical Background; 2. Domestic Economy; 3. Institutional Economy; 4. Specialization; 5. Distribution; 6. Economic Development; 7. Future Directions.

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Book SynopsisThe British economy altered radically between 1934 and 1947. Some of the most dramatic changes were in Wales as its struggling private-sector-led economy was supplanted by one dominated by the state. Initial changes were barely noticeable as pre-war rearmament had little impact on its economy and labour market yet wartime demands for munitions and raw materials prompted the state to govern an all-encompassing mobilisation that upended its relations with business and eliminated unemployment. New factories employed many thousands of people, agriculture was modernised and metal manufacturing thrived, although coal mining remained mired in crisis. As the war ended, lessons learnt during the conflict helped guide the government as it reconverted the economy to peacetime while retaining a dominant role. This book is the first to fully set out and explore these linkages in Wales between government planning, workplaces and their employees.

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Book Synopsis‘This is essential reading for anybody interested in global history.’ —Professor Ugo Panizza, The Graduate Institute of Geneva, SwitzerlandThis illuminating book offers a compact survey and new interpretation of trends and policies in the US economy from the end of the nineteenth century to the initial period of the Trump administration. Valli maps three stages in this period of US economic history: first, the economic and demographic consequences of the frontier; second, the Fordist model of growth; and third, the attempt to build an economic empire through economic and financial globalization, military and political power and rapid technological progress.Examining pivotal moments from the Wall Street Crash and the World Wars to the recent Great Recession, Obamacare and Trump's electoral promises and first controversial decisions, this book is essential reading for all those interested in American economic power and its future. Trade Review“It could be a great read, given the enormous wealth of facts and the author’s broad knowledge of American contemporary history.” (Andreas Freytag, Journal of Economics, Vol. 131, 2020)Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Birth of a Great Economic Power.- Chapter 2: The Fordist Model of Economic Development.- Chapter 3: The Great Depression and the New Deal.- Chapter 4: Return and Crisis of the Fordist Model of Development.- Chapter 5: Capital Accumulation, Technological Progress and Knowledge.- Chapter 6: The Global Power of the United States.- Chapter 7: Main Weaknesses in the American Economic Power.- Chapter 8: Towards a Global Economic Empire.- Chapter 9: The Great Recession.- Chapter 10: Obanomics.- Chapter 11: The Economic Consequences of Donald Trump.- Chapter 12: America’s Decline?: Towards an Imperfect Multipolar World.

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Book SynopsisBread, cash, dosh, dough, loot. Call if what you like, it matters now more than ever. In The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that financial history is the back-story to all history.From the banking dynasty who funded the Italian Renaissance to the stock market bubble that caused the French Revolution, this is the story of booms and busts as it''s never been told before.With the world in the grip of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, there''s never been a better time to understand the ascent - and descent - of money.''Beautifully written ... Breathtakingly clever'' Sunday Telegraph''A lucid and racy account of financial history'' New Statesman ''A fine, readable and entertaining history'' Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year ''The tales he tells of boom and bust, of triumph and disaster, of bubbles that inflate ... are the very essence of financial history'' Bill Emmott, Financial Times''An often enlightening and enjoyable tour through the underside of great events, a lesson in how the most successful great powers have always been underpinned by smart money'' Robert Skidelsky, New York Review of Books

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Book SynopsisA leading economic historian presents a new history of financial crises, showing how some led to greater globalization while others kept nations apartTrade Review“[A] fascinating book. . . . James’s surprising conclusion is that supply shocks promote globalisation, while demand shocks inhibit it.”—Martin Wolf, Financial Times, “Best Books of 2023—Economics”“A very enjoyable new book . . . applies the lens of whether each the seven advanced or set back the process of globalization to crises ranging from famines and blights in the 1840s via wars and depressions, commodity price hikes in the 1970s, the GFC and the Covid lockdowns and Russian invasion of Ukraine. . . . Masterly concise essays.”—Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist (blog)“James’ analysis is persuasive, and his book offers an illuminating history of how our world became so globalized.”—Mark Buchanan, Nature“Seven Crashes . . . offer(s) necessary and sober updates to the literature on financial crises.”—Rémi Meehan, International Affairs“Seven Crashes . . . sheds light on our most recent period of economic uncertainty.”— Kyle Scott, LSE Review of Booksshortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize, sponsored by the Munk Centre for International Studies “An audacious historical interpretation of how global mega-shocks have driven globalization cycles over the last two centuries. Anyone hoping to forecast the future of the world economy should read it.”—Maurice Obstfeld, Class of 1958 Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley“Those who cherish economics will be fascinated by Harold James’s exploration of financial crises, and the ways in which they have validated the views of those economists who saw them coming.”—Edmund Phelps, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and director of the Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University“A brilliant book—James shows how economists often draw the wrong lessons from the past and why globalization is unlikely to vanish in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.”—Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World History“James’s masterful account sheds new light on how globalization has been shaped by economic crises since the nineteenth century and deepens our understanding of globalization’s opportunities and its challenges.”—Linda Yueh, author of The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns and How to Prevent Them“If you are looking for a book that puts the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic into historical context and considers what it means for the economy’s future, this is it.”—Mark Zandi, author of Paying the Price: Ending the Great Recession and Ensuring a New American Century

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize 2013In 1412, Europe was a miserable backwater ravaged by plague, bad sanitation and incessant war, while the Orient was home to dazzling civilizations. Yet, somehow, the West came to dominate the Rest for most of the next half millennium.In this vital, brilliant book, Niall Ferguson reveals the six ''killer applications'' that the Rest lacked: competition, science, property rights, medicine, consumerism and the work ethic. And he asks: do we still have these winning tools? Or is this the end of Western ascendancy?''Brilliantly written, full of wit and virtuosity, stuffed with memorable lines and gorgeous bits of information. A great read'' The Times''A dazzling history of Western ideas ... epic'' Economist''Vivid and fascinating'' Daily Telegraph''Superb ... brings history alive ... dazzling'' Independent''This is sharp. It feels urgent. Ferguson ... twists his knife with great literary brio'' Andrew Marr, Financial TimesTrade ReviewFerguson is the most brilliant British historian of his generation ... he writes with splendid panache * The Times *One of the world's leading historians -- Hamish McRae * Independent *Civilization is another masterpiece ... a pulsing energy suffuses his account [and] fascinating facts burst like fireworks on every page -- Dominic Lawson * Sunday Times *This is sharp. It feels urgent. Ferguson, with a properly financially literate mind, twists his knife with great literary brio -- Andrew Marr * Financial Times *A dazzling history of Western ideas * Economist *

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Book SynopsisAN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEARA FINANCIAL TIMES BEST ECONOMICS BOOK OF THE YEAR AND THE ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEARFrom one of the world''s leading economists, a sweeping new history of the twentieth century - a century that left us vastly richer, yet still profoundly dissatisfied.Before 1870, most people lived in dire poverty, the benefits of the slow crawl of invention continually offset by a growing population. Then came a great shift: invention sprinted forward, doubling our technological capabilities each generation, and creatively destroying the economy again and again.Slouching Towards Utopia tells the story of the major economic and technological shifts of the 20th century in a bold and ambitious, grand narrative. In vivid and compelling detail, DeLong charts the unprecedented explosion of material wTrade ReviewBrad DeLong learnedly and grippingly tells the story of how all the economic growth since 1870 has created a global economy that today satisfies no one's ideas of fairness. The long journey toward economic justice and more equal rights and opportunities for all shall and will continue -- Thomas Piketty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century'This is a brilliant and important book. It offers an original and penetrating analysis of what its author calls "the long 20th century", the period of unprecedented economic advance that began roughly in 1870 and ended, he asserts, in 2010. Material abundance poured upon humanity. Previous generations would have thought such wealth to be a guarantee of utopia. Yet the age of material progress has ended not in a utopia, but in recrimination and discord. No book has explained the successes and failures of this extraordinary period with comparable insight -- Martin WolfThe period 1870-2010 - what DeLong calls the "long twentieth century" - saw the world break decisively free of its Malthusian chains, with levels of per capita economic growth without any parallel in human history. This wonderfully researched and written book explains the roots of this vertiginous ascent towards utopia, while also exposing the causes of the subsequent flat-lining in our economic fortunes and what action is now needed to ensure the long century is viewed by future historians as the historical rule, not the exception -- Andrew G. Haldane, Chief Executive of the RSA and former Chief Economist at the Bank of EnglandHistory provides the only data we have for charting a course forward in these turbulent times. I have not seen a more revealing and illuminating book about economics and what it means in a very long time. Slouching Towards Utopia should be required reading for anybody who cares about the future of the global system, and that should be everyone -- Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard UniversityWhat a joy to finally have Brad DeLong's masterful interpretation of twentieth-century economic history down on paper. Slouching Towards Utopia is engaging, important, and awe-inspiring in its breadth and creativity -- Christina Romer, University of California, BerkeleyAn intellectually exciting and entertaining gallop along the arc of twentieth century economic history. DeLong puts together the puzzle of the past to tell a story of remarkable achievements as well as setbacks. A great way to understand the forces that have shaped the world today -- Minouche Shafik, Director, London School of Economics and Political ScienceBrad DeLong manages brilliantly to combine detailed analysis of a huge sweep of global history with an accessible and engaging narrative. The result is a book full of well founded and penetrating insights that will appeal to anyone interested in the causes and consequences of modern economic growth -- Robert C Allen, Distinguished Professor of Economic History at New York University, Abu Dhabi, and a Senior Research Fellow of Nuffield College, OxfordImpressed . . . eloquent and clear . . . makes one sad for the utopian possibilities that might have been realized -- Emanuel Derman, author of 'My Life as a Quant' and 'The Volatility Smile'Like many people, I've been eagerly anticipating Brad Delong's Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the 20th Century, and it doesn't disappoint . . . it (is) an unmissable book . . . The strength of the book - as well as its immense scope and depth . . . is that it's a work of political economy, braiding the different strands of ideas, Hayek, Polanyi and Keynes . . . In addition, there are plenty of pleasing asides and details. Definitely one to read. -- Diane CoyleA magisterial history . . . asks the right questions and teaches us a lot of crucial history along the way -- Paul KrugmanA masterfully sweeping account . . . a joy to read. Few economic historians have as fluent a grasp of political or military history or, more important, write as lucidly and with such great flair about these subjects -- Liaquat Ahamed, Foreign AffairsI've been waiting for Brad [DeLong]'s big economic history opus for a long time now -- Ezra KleinSlouching Towards Utopia is an impressive achievement, written with wit and style and a formidable command of detail -- The EconomistDeLong explores the slice of history he has chosen - the "long twentieth century" from 1870 to 2010 - in depth, and he often writes with verve combined with thought-provoking detail -- Daily TelegraphAccessible and illuminating explanations of key historical shifts and the socio-economic forces driving them . . . A sprawling but carefully argued, edifying account of modern economic history and its impact on global well-being -- Kirkus ReviewsConveys a wealth of information in elegant, accessible prose, combining grand, epochal perspectives with fascinating discursions on everything from alternating-current electricity to the gender wage gap. The result is a cogent interpretation of economic modernity that illuminates both its nigh-miraculous achievements and its seething discontents -- Publishers Weekly, starred reviewThis volume, partly an economic history but mostly a thorough record of the global economy's connection with politics, is destined to become a classic in its category -- Library JournalOne of the most ambitious and admirable economic history books of the year . . . DeLong is a guide whose conclusions I cannot fault -- Strategy+BusinessA fantastic read . . . you don't have to be an economist or historian to enjoy this book or reach for the smelling salts to revive you from boredom -- Patrick Luciani, The HubDeeply engaging . . . a work of strikingly expansive breadth and scope -- Benjamin M. Friedman, Harvard MagazineDeLong written the most entertaining End Times narrative since The Late Great Planet Earth -- Steve Donoghue, Open Letters ReviewWorries that the future will be worse than the present are an excellent reason to read economic histories such as Bradford DeLong's new book, Slouching Towards Utopia -- Joshua Kim, Inside Higher EdA masterpiece -- Zachary D. Carter, DissentA magisterial new economic history -- Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles TimesIf you want to follow the conversation right now on global economic history, you should check out Brad DeLong's Slouching Towards Utopia -- Adam Tooze, on The Ezra Klein Show

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