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Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible, by William N. Goetzmann
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"[A] magnificent history of money and finance."--New York Times Book Review
"Convincingly makes the case that finance is a change-maker of change-makers."--Financial Times
In the aftermath of recent financial crises, it's easy to see finance as a wrecking ball: something that destroys fortunes and jobs, and undermines governments and banks. In Money Changes Everything, leading financial historian William Goetzmann argues the exact opposite--that the development of finance has made the growth of civilizations possible. Goetzmann explains that finance is a time machine, a technology that allows us to move value forward and backward through time; and that this innovation has changed the very way we think about and plan for the future. He shows how finance was present at key moments in history: driving the invention of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, spurring the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome to become great empires, determining the rise and fall of dynasties in imperial China, and underwriting the trade expeditions that led Europeans to the New World. He also demonstrates how the apparatus we associate with a modern economy--stock markets, lines of credit, complex financial products, and international trade--were repeatedly developed, forgotten, and reinvented over the course of human history.
Exploring the critical role of finance over the millennia, and around the world, Goetzmann details how wondrous financial technologies and institutions--money, bonds, banks, corporations, and more--have helped urban centers to expand and cultures to flourish. And it's not done reshaping our lives, as Goetzmann considers the challenges we face in the future, such as how to use the power of finance to care for an aging and expanding population.
Money Changes Everything presents a fascinating look into the way that finance has steered the course of history.
- Sales Rank: #40290 in Books
- Published on: 2016-04-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.40" h x 1.90" w x 6.20" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 600 pages
Review
"It is a fascinating thesis, brilliantly illuminated by scores of vivid examples, generously illustrated with a wealth of pictures, comprehensive in its geographical and temporal scope, and in my view almost entirely convincing."--Felix Martin, New York Times Book Review
"In Money Changes Everything, Mr. Goetzmann draws on objects in Yale's extensive historical collections to tell his exciting story. . . . His excitement with such artifacts is palpable."--Edward Chancellor, Wall Street Journal
"[A]n accessible survey that does a fine job of reallocating past, present, and future."--Kirkus
"Let me say simply that everyone who is curious about the history of finance will be richly rewarded by reading this book."--Linda Jubin, Investing.com
"Money Changes Everything is . . . A tactile and visual history. It is rich with illustrations, and often reported from ground level as Goetzmann travels to dusty European archives or to sites of historical financial significance. . . . Goetzmann's careful, brick-by-brick approach to financial history convincingly makes the case that finance is a change-maker of change-makers."--Pietra Rivoli, Financial Times
"In the fallout from the Great Recession, it's been commonplace to vilify those working in the financial-services industry. But Goetzmann argues that finance is a worthwhile endeavor, beyond just earning a ton of money: Its innovations have made the growth of human civilization possible."--Bourree Lam, TheAtlantic.com
"Full of fascinating nuggets and extremely well researched."--Tim Harford, Undercover Economist
"A remarkable work of synthesis and scholarship, the book affords a deep perspective to anyone trying to grapple with current problems in the role of finance and financial regulation in a civilized society."--Elie Canetti, Finance & Development
"Its strength is the effort it makes to set money not only in its economic context, but also in its wider social and cultural setting."--Warwick Lightfoot, Financial World
"[A] fascinating book."--Martin Wolf, Financial Times
"[A] magnificent history of money and finance."--Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Money Changes Everything is a treasure, unequalled in scope, unparalleled in depth of insight. . . . This is a must-read for anyone in finance or who wants to find out what it's about."--Financial Post
"A most pertinent and brave publication. . . . This hefty, worthy book, really is a historical eye-opener."--David Marx Book Reviews
"A panoramic historical sweep packed with interesting nuggets. . . . All very enjoyable, and I'd say essential for anyone interested in financial history."--Enlightened Economist
"Money Changes Everything is altogether a splendid book."--Mark Gamin, D&O Diary Blog
"Rigorously researched and extremely enjoyable to read, Money Changes Everything enhances investors' understanding of contemporary markets."--Bruce Grantier, Financial Analysts Journal
"William Goetzmann's Money Changes Everything is a thorough look at finance and world history, a 5,000-year journey that demonstrates the pivotal role of free market capitalism in building nations and serving human interests."--Washington Free Beacon
"Goetzmann offers an extraordinarily wide-ranging and thorough investigation of financial activity from earliest times to the present day, and his enthusiasm for the subject and his lively writing style make the topic much more engaging than one might expect. The immense breadth of his research means that every reader, no matter how expert in history or finance, will learn much. . . . The book has something for everyone."--Peter Acton, Australian Book Review
"The book is replete with fascinating historical tales and figures, including an option payoff diagram developed by Henri Lef�vre in the mid-1800s. Well-written and engaging, Goetzmann's book is a wonderful resource for those interested in learning more about the historical role of finance and its potential for addressing future challenges."--Choice
From the Back Cover
"Only William Goetzmann--an archaeologist, art historian, and esteemed finance scholar--could have produced this masterful exploration of money and investing through the ages. Money Changes Everything is at once deep, broad, sweeping, and gorgeously illustrated. It is a book that readers will savor and refer to again and again."--William Bernstein, author of A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
"Money is the greatest invention since the wheel. In this masterwork, Money Changes Everything, William Goetzmann traces money's role from prehistoric times to the present, showing how civilizations developed on a bedrock of financial transactions. A beautifully written and compelling book."--Elroy Dimson, University of Cambridge and London Business School
"In Money Changes Everything, readers learn a tremendous amount about the core ideas of finance. William Goetzmann uses a vast range of historical examples to explain why the evolution of finance and civilization are inseparable."--Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Laureate in Economics
"In this engaging book, William Goetzmann, a modern Renaissance man, demonstrates that throughout recorded history, the power of financial technologies has improved human existence. Like other technologies, financial innovations can sometimes be disruptive. Goetzmann, however, shows us that much of the time, these innovations propel economic progress and expand individual opportunities."--Richard Sylla, Stern School of Business, New York University
"If anyone had told me that someone could write coherently and intelligently about Karl Marx, cuneiform tablets, the South Sea bubble, the opium trade, and David's painting Death of Marat between a single set of covers, I would have shaken my head in disbelief. This book accomplishes precisely this. Money Changes Everything does nothing less than to think through the contribution of finance to modern civilization. A thrilling read."--Hans-Joachim Voth, University of Zurich
"Ranging from early civilizations to the present day and moving from the Fertile Crescent to our current global society, this book contains a wealth of interesting observations about the history of finance. Readers will be attracted by the genial tone and tales of personal discovery."--Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"This is a long-term history of the development and importance of financial technologies and institutions. A useful synthesis that brings together primary materials, the book argues that financial systems provide the means for advancing civilization."--Graham Oliver, Brown University
About the Author
William N. Goetzmann is the Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management and director of the International Center for Finance at the Yale School of Management. His books include The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created the Modern Financial Markets and The Great Mirror of Folly: Finance, Culture, and the Crash of 1720.
Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Great overview how finance has had a role in forming history from the earliest civilzations to the modern day
By A. Menon
Money Changes Everything gives an overview of how finance has been intertwined with civilization from Sumer up to recent times. Its a unique book from what I have read as it explores in some detail the specific financial mechanisms used by early civilizations to facilitate growing complexity in the economy. The book looks at ancient civilizations as well as the modern world but I would say for new material the explorations of Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman and Chinese civilization particularly interesting.
The book is split into four parts starting with the archaeological record. It is fairly well known that cuneiform was used to record trade and probably invented for that purpose but the author goes through old texts and discusses contracts drafted from the beginning of human history. We see how interest was developed (which interestingly seems to have been formed due to the idea that a flock borrowed would grow overtime). The author analyzes situations where there is contract dispute and how parties accrued interest in their calculations of liability. The author spends some time on Greece as well and discusses the mercantile nature of trade and use of silver in transactions. The author gives the refreshing background of the economic environment of Ancient Greece and its role in trading and mercantile exchange. The author discusses how insurance contracts were originated in this period to help diversify risk and discusses how disputes were dealt with. The author also discusses Roman finance which was very sophisticated due to the extent of the empire. You learn about the beginnings of principal-agent relationships in investing and limited liability vehicles and the beginnings of a capitalist class in the sense that senators had excess savings that were used for investments through LP structures. The author then moves to China which developed concurrently but had a system very distinct from Europe and the Middle East. The minting of a sovereign coin system is discussed as well as the fact that China was the first country to use a paper currency. The author discusses the economic system in China and how its centralized bureaucracy didn't allow for an entrepreneurial economic environment where inventions were rewarded with financial gains.
The author moves on to the middle ages and refocuses on Europe up to the 18th century. One gets an understanding of the financial network that were constructed to facilitate transfer of savings on religious pilgrimages and in particular the formation of protobanks as finance filled a gap of how to send money over large distances. The author then goes to Italy to discuss merchant finance in Venice and as well the development of math to improve financial reasoning. This exercise was taken up by the famous Fibonacci and the author discusses his work on problem solving for financial accounting. The author discusses some interesting examples of early innovations of finance like perpetual bonds as well as various complex conditional forms of insurance. All these products who were developed before a mathematical theory for them was and so its interesting to read about how people took advantage of financial instrument mispricing. The author gets into topics that more has been written about recently and things like the manias that took over markets like the South Sea Bubble and John Law's financial alchemy in France. The accounts are very readable and definitely hold your attention.
The author then moves into the modern realm really starting with Marx and going through Keynes, the Depression and the further codifying of mathematical finance. This is a history of how finance has been embedded in civilization form its beginnings and how finance is inescapable as the complexity of an economy grows. I enjoyed the book for its early history of finance in ancient civilization and the examples discussed about financial mechanisms developed by people to solve particular problems they were facing. The lesson of the use of finance to coordinate actions is a fairly trivial one so its really the history and examples chosen that gives life to the book. It is quite detailed and though parts can be a bit dull I enjoyed the book. The later parts are well written but there are other accounts out that I think are superior but the book achieves its purpose of discussing how finance is embedded in civilization and has been from the very beginning.
54 of 59 people found the following review helpful.
A useful addition to the literature, but not a lot of fun to read
By Aaron C. Brown
The publisher sent me a copy of this book for review.
There are so many books covering the history of money that it helps to begin by categorizing them by the authors' fields of interests and political views.
For example, one of the best is David Graeber's Debt. The author is an anthropologist and anarchist who argues money is debt, and debt leads to war, slavery, political repression and other violence. History: The Human Gamble is Reuven Brenner's metaphysical account of financial history, leading to a libertarian view. Another excellent entry is Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money, written by a historian and champion of the liberating and progressive effects of finance. In Money, Felix Martin considers money from a political view and argues for a center-left/Democratic socialist/Keynesian-economy-managed-by-professional-economists world. Franklin Allen and Glenn Yago use linguistic evidence and an evolutionary perspective in Financing the Future. They would like to see a lot of financial innovations. There are plenty of others, treating most of the same evidence and events, but from perspectives as different as the blind men and the elephants, and coming to radically different conclusions.
Money Changes Everything is archaeological at its core. The main attention is on physical money and documents. This will not surprise readers familiar with his earlier book, The Origins of Value, which is an anthology distinguished by gorgeous photographs of monetary artifacts. It is narrower than the other books, nearly all the attention is on ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and China; and medieval to early modern Europe. The focus is clearly related to the amount of surviving physical evidence for exchange systems. The book is the least political of the monetary histories I am familiar with, it seems to have a mild center-right perspective generally supportive of the force of finance, but sympathetic to light regulation.
I think this book is most useful as a counterweight to all the enthusiastic theorizing and argument in the field. Many of the documents and artifacts described don't fit neatly into anyone's theories. Any reasonably clever writer can cherrypick historical evidence and employ rhetorical sleight of hand to promote persuasive theories. But as John Adams put it, "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." That's not to say that the books above are wrong, just that considering their arguments in light of the evidence in this book can lead to more nuanced, and likely more accurate, views.
On the negative side, facts are duller than speculation, and this book is particularly dry. The author's passion is clearly to handle the physical remnants of history, which is less exciting than proposing bold hypotheses about the sweep of human events. He graciously praises every single researcher cited, in the text, not footnotes. That's really nice, but it starts wearing thin for readers.
I recommend this book highly for anyone seriously interested in the history of money and finance. I can't promise you a good time or deep insights, but I think it will challenge your views and make them better. Without the serious interest in the field, I don't think you'll make it far into this long, dense, plodding (but useful) book.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Money and finance, the tools that fueled civilization
By Lawrence A. Beer
The titles of non-fiction academic based research books are often chosen to provoke, spark the interest, of potential readers that shy away from such topics. The word “money” especially followed by the phrase “changes everything” invokes a semi-prejudicial emotionally charged negative connotation. In the modern world money has become the tangible symbol separating the rich and the poor, the social strata determinant, so it does changes everything – the way people live. However the Goetzman heading is therefore a bit misleading but understandably used as a marque to attract interest. The more appropriate description of the introspection he offers so masterly is in the sub-title “How Finance Made Civilization Possible.”
The term money is simply an invented device, an instrument of convenience; specifically an acceptable exchange intermediary, an emotionless impassive tool. It allows for the result of one’s labors or intellectual skills to have a commonly if not universally acceptable material value assigned to them. It allows for transactions to be more efficiently carried out. Instead of one person lugging around surplus quantities of material goods they acquired or offering special knowledge they attained and to offer such in trade for those objects or applied talent of another money acts as a bridge, a conduit for the exchange process. Money is a tool of mankind and no other species on earth uses it. As such it is a prime catalytic agent of human evolution, the refinement and advancement for the development and growth of civilization.
This is the essence of Professor Goetzmann’s well written balanced examination of how the advent of money morphed into the creation of financial systems and models that affected the world both positively and negatively; it did change everything. The book is not, as the inside flap may give the impression, a commentary on the recent financial crisis that “destroys fortunes and jobs” or “undermines governments and banks.” It is not another book on the plus and minuses of globalization, although there is no doubt that cross territorial finance brings the world closer together and make it more interdependent. Like the invention of any new technical advancement how it is used often defines how it is perceived and judged.
By offering an in-depth critical examination of finance over history and its affect around the world the reader will be educated to hopefully understand and appreciate how events were both shaped and influenced by the application of this apparatus. The globalization process which allowed for civilization to advance was constructed on the exchange rails not just consisting of goods and services to flow across territories but for ideas, religions and cultures to move between and cross territories and societies. The engine was international trade and it was propelled by the fuel of money and the financial mechanisms that grew out of its core design.
The financial instruments we take for granted today, from interest baring loans to shareholder ownership arrangements along with all the other sophisticated and complex mechanisms that employ the use of capital as a prime resource deeply impacted how the world grew up. The author however introduces the subject matter with very simplistic basic examples that show how one literally borrows time by banking on the future via financing thereby allowing one to accumulate the necessary basic as we as income producing assets. We all live by such principles as it has allowed people to manage themselves and things as it reallocates “time, risk and resources” across the globe. Both for the novice and professional the idea that money as a nomenclature is neither a saint nor a demon with no prejudicial attribution associated with it makes for a most important and beneficial read. Finance is not a code word for wealth or capitalism. It is just a socially constructed productive system that allows for value to be distributed, no more - no less. But such definition makes it one of mankind most misunderstood phenomenon in spite of the fact that it is a key driver in the construction of civilization. I only wish this volume was published before composing my own chapter on the mediums of exchange in my book, Tracing the Roots of Globalization and Business Principles, 2nd Ed., 2015, Business Export Press; also on Amazon.
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