The Ascent of Money, by Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson has written a fascinating book about the history of finance and how it was instrumental in the development of advanced societies. He explains how the right choice of finance made and broke governments. He also takes a look at current financial developments including the credit derivatives market and how China lends money to America today.

One disappointment is that the book was written before the massive crash in September 2009 and therefore is a little behind on current affairs. I also felt that the book does a lot of jumping through history and is more Euro-centric. It hardly discusses events in America and Asia until it comes to the present day.

Tags: finance economics