Money

MONEY. The object of our desires. The engine of our genius. Humanity’s greatest invention. Whether we like it or not, our world revolves around money, but we rarely stop to think about it. What is money, where does it come from, and can it run out? What is this substance that drives trade, revolutions and discoveries; inspires art, philosophy and science? In this illuminating, sometimes irreverent, and often surprising journey, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money – from a tally stick in ancient Africa to coins in Republican Greece, from mathematics in the medieval Arab world to the French Revolution, and from the emergence of the US dollar right up to today’s cryptocurrency and beyond. Along the way, we meet a host of characters who have innovated with money, disrupting society and changing the way we live, in an ongoing monetary evolution that has, for the last 5000 years, animated human progress. McWilliams unlocks the mysteries and power of money, explaining why it matters and how it shapes our world. ‘McWilliams has a great knack for bringing a complex economics story to life. He is also funny. In economics, that''s a rare and persuasive combination’ Irish Times

Auteur
David McWilliams is a global economist, writer and broadcaster whose unique ability to communicate complex societal and economic structures is unparalleled. Having worked at the Central Bank of Ireland, he became a faculty member at Trinity College, Dublin business school. He's been described as being to economics what David Attenborough is to the natural sciences and Brian Cox is to physics.

Texte du rabat

‘A breathtaking, expansive and imaginative ride through the history and future of money from an author who truly understands it' PROFESSOR BRIAN COX

'A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable' PETER FRANKOPAN

‘Equally entertaining and insightful’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS

‘If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves the rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried’ TOM HOLLAND
_ MONEY.
The object of our desires.
The engine of our genius.
Humanity’s greatest invention.

Money is everything. It brings freedom and it takes it away. It inspires and corrupts us. But what is money? Is it the main thing holding us back from utopia or is it the one constant that’s driven us to success?

In his illuminating, entertaining and often surprising book, economist David McWilliams charts the relationship between humans and money – from clay tablets in Mesopotamia to coins in Ancient Greece, from mathematics in the medieval Arab world to the French Revolution, and from the emergence of the US dollar right up to today’s cryptocurrency. Along the way, we meet a host of characters who have innovated with money, disrupting society and transforming the way we live. Like humanity, money is ever changing, adapting to its time and circumstances. The question is, over the last 5000 years, have we changed money or has money changed us? Money tells an astonishing new story of our species. Taking the reader on an epic journey through the history of money, McWilliams reveals its fundamental role in our society.
_

‘An eye-opening history of what makes the world go round’ EVENING STANDARD

'An impressive journey that fizzes with facts'. ECONOMIST

‘David McWilliams is the best explainer of economics I know’ SIMON KUPER

'Compelling, funny and original' KATJA HOYER

‘If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves the rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried’ TOM HOLLAND

Résumé
For readers of SAPIENS and Yanis Varoufakis, the definitive story of money and how it shaped humankind from influential global economist David McWilliams