Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson

I picked this book up recently and also have seen a few episodes of a documentary he did by the same name. Ferguson, a Harvard professor goes on to explain the rise of money, credit, and banking throughout history (Middle ages, Renaissance, etc…) in a very entertaining fashion. There are some very interesting nuggets along the way that make one ponder… Did you know it was forbidden in the Bible for Christians to collect usury or interest on loans? Ferguson goes on to point out that Jews found a loophole in the Old Testament that would allow them to collect usury from someone unrelated (i.e. non-jews). This goes to explain how Jews were at the forefront of finance. Anyone else read this and have any thoughts?

Haven’t read it but thought about picking it up after coming across a review of it by Satyajit Das (author of Traders, Guns, and Money and a derivatives reference set). There are also a few other book reviews on his page. fxguy1234, sounds like you recommend it? ------------------------------------- http://www.wilmott.com/blogs/satyajitdas/index.cfm/2009/1/4/We-are-all-Slaves-to-Defunct-Austrians-Economists-Now Niall Ferguson (2008) “The Ascent of Money” The title is a self conscious reference to the Jacob Bronowski’s path breaking “Ascent of Man” – a television history of scientific progress. Ferguson, a respected historian and author of acclaimed two volume biography of the Rothschild Family (The House of Rothschild), attempts a financial history of the world. “The Ascent of Money” is divided into six parts – money; bond markets; stock markets; insurance and risk; real estate (housing); global money (essentially Bretton Woods 2). There is an afterword that is an afterthought probably prompted by the current financial crisis. “The Ascent of Money” is an uneven work. At its best, it is engaging, lucid and insightful in the analysis of the role of money in economies. The book is at its best when it is deals with the past. The writing is vivid and brings the characters and episodes to life. The difficulty with the book is its ambition. It is challenging to reduce the complex history of a tangled specialist subject into a simple series of narratives and themes. This leads to simplifications that are questionable. The author’s concept of “Chimerica” – a financial amalgam of America and China – is not entirely convincing. As events may demonstrate, Chimerica may well prove an evanscent Chimera. “The Ascent of Money” also seems less assured when dealing with the present. The intricacies of modern finance are glossed over. The text may also be over reliant on the views and opinions of a few people - George Soros and Ken Griffin (founder of the, now embattled, mega hedge fund Citadel). The form of the book and especially the writing style is a concession to its context – the ubiquitous “Major Television Series”. “The Ascent of Money” often reads like a script of a TV series rather than a cohesive work of history. A musical could be next! Despite shortcomings, “The Ascent of Money” is an entertaining history for the ordinary reader interested in an introduction on the role that money has played in civilisation. The book, rushed out to capitalise on the current interest in finance, explores ideas that are now in a process of fundamental revision. Perhaps history can only be written about distant events of long dead souls and fallen empires and houses.

I’ve heard that it is a good introduction for non-specialists, but if you have a CFA and are well rounded (e.g. know the little jew annecdote or the tulip bubble, etc) , chances are you know most of what it has to say. If what I read in his Vanity Fair article is any indicator, I would agree that it is a survey, but not a deep dive on the history of money.

It’s been made into a TV series in the UK. Very good.

I got the book for Christmas! (haven’t read it yet)

Yea, I got it for xmas as well. I don’t expect it to be groundbreaking discoveries, merely entertaining refresher on financial history. I’m interested in history in general (I found how the Medici family came to glory pretty interesting)… Hopefully it will make me more rounded or give me interesting conversation starters if nothing else. cv - Only a few pages into the book but check out a few clips of the “ascent of money” on YouTube to see if your interested.

Just saw one of the youtube clips, and really enjoyed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coItaKim-vQ

fxguy1234 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I picked this book up recently and also have seen > a few episodes of a documentary he did by the same > name. > > Ferguson, a Harvard professor goes on to explain > the rise of money, credit, and banking throughout > history (Middle ages, Renaissance, etc…) in a > very entertaining fashion. > > There are some very interesting nuggets along the > way that make one ponder… > > Did you know it was forbidden in the Bible for > Christians to collect usury or interest on loans? > > > Ferguson goes on to point out that Jews found a > loophole in the Old Testament that would allow > them to collect usury from someone unrelated (i.e. > non-jews). This goes to explain how Jews were at > the forefront of finance. > > Anyone else read this and have any thoughts? For the record, the Bible doesn’t forbid charging interest. The Pope and his minions forbade interest for centuries–adding laws in addition to th Bible (which is actually forbade in the Bible and condemned roundly by Jesus) is a staple of the Catholic church, thus why there was the Protestant reformation about 6 centuries ago, and it’s why most Protestants consider Catholicism to be an apostate religion (but that’s an aside–don’t need to get into that here. Just stating the facts). The Bible recommends to individuals in dozens of places that taking on debt is a mistake (but never forbids it–remember, the Bible isn’t a legal text like the Qu’ran. Legal and economic systems weren’t meant to be built on the Bible. The entire New Testament is about how individuals interact, not nations). Usury–in the Bible, interest on loans–was forbade among Israelites. That is, the principle was that you don’t charge friends and family interest. The Bible doesn’t ban Christians from charging interest. That is false, but an understandable mistake given that the Catholic church controlled the church, lied about the Bible, and persecuted for the faith for 1200 years. Thank God for John Calvin and Martin Luther and others like them.

I’m sorry, I want to just add another thing for the sake of our learning here. The Bible–in the Gospels–actually suggests (flat out says) that receiving interest is a smart move. Luke 19 and Matthew 25.

It’s basically a compilation of some of his other books: House of Rothschild, The Cash Nexus, Empire, Pity of War, etc. If are you familiar with some of those books then just read the Vanity Fair article. If not, then I recommend picking up the book.

just read about Rothschild (means Red Shield) family the other day… it’s not their real name… real name was Bauer i think… (means "farmer) - they were poor at one point… big money are not made overnight… several generations worked towards one money pot.

kkent - good info, thanks for the input