The Ascent of Money reveals finance as the backbone of history, casting a new light on familiar events: the Renaissance enabled by Italian foreign exchange dealers, the French Revolution traced back to a stock market bubble, the 2008 crisis traced from America’s bankruptcy capital, Memphis, to China’s boomtown, Chongqing. We may resent the plutocrats of Wall Street but, as Ferguson argues, the evolution of finance has rivaled the importance of any technological innovation in the rise of civilization. Indeed, to study the ascent and descent of money is to study the rise and fall of Western power itself.”
Niall Ferguson: The Ascent of Money – A 30-Minute Summary
Schlagwörter:Ferguson
Excellent history lesson. We tend to forget that there is a difference between rich and wealthy, as chris rock tells in one of his witty stand ups: a rapper may be rich enough ti buy a caddie, but an expensive divorce can ruin him; whereas bill gates’ wealth is so widespread that no crash can drive his family out of their castle. Or that there are other forms of richness like labour, children, happiness (buthan measures their people‘s „gross national happiness“ whereas we westeners focus on gdp). There‘s this saying about a rich guy: he‘s so poor, all he has is money. 😊