The idea that money makes the world go round is as popular as it is
old. It is so commonly accepted as truth that few stop to consider
it in any detail. Niall Ferguson, a Fellow and Tutor in Modern
History at Jesus College, Oxford and author of The Pity of War, has
written a powerful book challenging this belief, through a
historical analysis of the evolution of today's economic and
political world. There is clearly a link between politics and
money; throughout modern history the way states have managed their
money has been crucial to their survival and success. The
18th-century discovery that governments could be permanently in
debt thanks to bond issues and a central bank enabled wars and
empire-building on a vast scale. But within economic theory there
are quite different sets of assumptions about individual behaviour.
Some theorists assume that individual expectations and actions are
rational, drawing economically optimal conclusions from available
information. Yet experimental research shows that most people are
remarkably bad at assessing their own economic best interest, even
when given clear information and time to learn. Faced with a simple
economic dilemma, people are quite likely to make the wrong
decision due to misleading preconceptions, emotions or basic
computational mistakes. The conflicting human impulses of sex,
violence and power are quite capable of overriding the money
motive. This is not light reading, but it is a highly accessible
and clear analysis of a complex subject that affects all our lives.
Ferguson's central conclusion is that money does not in fact make
the world go round. Rather, modern history is the product of
unpredictable political conflicts, above all wars, that have shaped
the institutions of modern economic life. (Kirkus UK)
Money: the root of all evil, or the stuff that makes the world go round?
Modern history shows that a nation’s success largely depends on the way it manages its money. In times of war, finance has been just as crucial to victory as firepower. But where do money and politics meet? Starting in 1700 and ending at the present day, Niall Ferguson offers a bold and dazzling analysis of the evolution of today’s economic and political landscape. Far from being driven by the profit motive alone, our recent history, as Ferguson makes brilliantly clear, has also been made by potent and often conflicting human impulses – sex, violence and the desire for power.
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