A bit dry

I wasn’t expecting thrills and chills but this didn’t hold my attention even though it’s a subject I’m interested in. Some interesting bits but overall only ok

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1 person found this helpful

Great History about Money

Well researched and good to see the global development of the current financial system over centuries! Thank you!

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Mainstream history of banking, monetary policy.etc

Well written and covers many topics. At certain points, it lacks nuance/depth, or shows a Keynesian bias: "stimulus" = good, blaming inevitable subsequent burst on unregulated markets.

When covering investments, it contrasts the "Quantitatives" vs Soros's Reflexivity, without mention of Value Investing and the stellar, sustainable success of Warren Buffett and many others alike. Why?

Finally, it denounces redlining as a purely racist, evil phenomenon, yet affirms "The great revelation of the microfinance movement is that women are a better credit risk than men". Go figure.

Overall, good read, well reasoned, an honest effort by the author to cover a vast and controversial topic properly.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent, thought-provoking history of finance.

I've really liked some of Fergusson's other works, and this was his best yet in my opinion. He does an excellent job of explaining the evolution of the various pillars of the modern economic world, using plain, but well-written language, and makes a strong argument in support of his contention that finance needs to be taken much more seriously as an explanation for major shifts in historical power and development.

Narrator is very good too, a great fit for the material.

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1 person found this helpful

Not dull, well worth a read/listen-

Some of the history of banking and insurance was completely new to me and gave me a new understanding of the world of finance and its justification for existence.
In the sections on recent financial stupidities I was familiar with most of the factual material but enjoyed a slightly different slant.
Bit of repetition - was this a TV programme?

Agree on the whole with another reviewer that it is a good car book but I lost a few paragraphs where the necessarily dry reading and reading matter lost out to concentrating on driving. This audiobook more than most made me wish I could rewind shorter sections.

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Interesting but not for fun

This book I found really interesting but unless you are into Finance and have a good understanding of basic economics then this will probably not be your thing. It is however an excellent grounding in the history, use and eventual total reliance of all mankind on an abstract concept which we all collectively choose to believe is worth exchanging our goods and services for.



J

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7 people found this helpful

Interesting but showing age

I remember when Long Term Capital Management was news. And Enron. Without them we wouldn't have the stories I guess. On serious side this book is subject to quite extreme telescoping (but most narrative history is)

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1 person found this helpful

Hard to fault

My enjoyment rose as I progressed rapidly through this book and was sad when it ended. It provided for me, in my profound ignorance of economics, an engaging primer that was perfectly judged in terms of depth and brevity.

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Brilliantly told story

This was a fascinating listen that I really enjoyed and would love to see or hear an updated version of. The book was written around the time of the financial crisis in 2008 and a new version bringing it up to 2021 would be of interest to me.

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3 people found this helpful

Insightful

Accents werent necessary in my view but it was okay. The book was really insightful

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