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The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,379 listener ratings
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Bread, cash, dough, loot, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is, in fact, the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals financial history as the essential back story behind all history.
Through Ferguson's expert lens, familiar historical landmarks appear in a new and sharper financial focus. Suddenly, the civilization of the Renaissance looks very different: a boom in the market for art and architecture made possible when Italian bankers adopted Arabic mathematics. The rise of the Dutch republic is reinterpreted as the triumph of the world's first modern bond market over insolvent Habsburg absolutism. And the origins of the French Revolution are traced back to a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scot murderer.
With the clarity and verve for which he is known, Ferguson elucidates key financial institutions and concepts by showing where they came from. What is money? What do banks do? What's the difference between a stock and a bond? Why buy insurance or real estate? And what exactly does a hedge fund do?
This is history for the present. Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to ask why the free market can't provide adequate protection against catastrophe. He also delves into the origins of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Perhaps most important, The Ascent of Money documents how a new financial revolution is propelling the world's biggest countries, India and China, from poverty to wealth in the space of a single generation—an economic transformation unprecedented in human history.
Yet the central lesson of the financial history is that sooner or later every bubble bursts—sooner or later the bearish sellers outnumber the bullish buyers; and sooner or later greed flips into fear. And that is why, whether you're scraping by or rolling in it, there's never been a better time to understand the ascent of money.
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"Financial history is interesting, I think, for everyone. Eyebrow-raising circular reasonings have always been widespread in economic theories, but they not did not disturb too much. On the whole, the book is so well-written and addictive that this posed not much of a problem."
— Freek (4 out of 5 stars)
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There is an ease to [Ferguson's] prose that leaves this complicated subject interesting to and approachable by any general [listener].
— Booklist Starred Review -
“It shrewdly anticipates many aspects of the current financial crisis.”
— New York Times -
“An admirably illuminating book.”
— Washington Post -
“A timely book that is indispensable [from] one of the greatest historians writing today.”
— Boston Globe -
“There is an ease to [Ferguson’s] prose that leaves this complicated subject interesting to and approachable by any general reader.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“A timely history of money and finance from the advent of coins to J. P. Morgan Chase’s takeover of Bear Stearns earlier this year.”
— Library Journal -
“The author is a fluent interpreter…He avoids the aridity of economics without skimping on details, offering lots of bang for the buck.”
— Kirkus Reviews
The Ascent of Money Listener Reviews
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Michael Barrett, 3/13/2022
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" Actually, I didn't finish. I'm not smart enough to read this book, and was constantly glazing over at financial terms and ideas. I want to understand, but this book was not the vehicle to get me there. And let's face it. I want my non-fiction to read like fiction. This book does not! Probably a very interesting book for someone who already has a handle on finance and economics. "
— Shauna, 2/17/2014 -
" Zou verplichte lectuur moeten zijn voor elke bankier, beleggingsadviseur, verzekeraar ... Als je wat verder in de geschiedenis van het geld en bankwezen kijkt zie je steeds dezelfde patronen terug. De kunst is om ze telkens in context te kunnen plaatsen met de maatschappelijke, economische en technologische evoluties. "
— Henk, 2/17/2014 -
" I gave this book a three only because the first half was very good. Ferguson then forgot himself and with Milton Friedman in his pocket and the Chicago boys with bats standing behind him attempts to beat us into submission to his particular political views. Separating politics and economics is never easy and we all have a point of view which colors the landscape we paint. After skipping a 100 plus pages in the middle, I finished the book with a sense of uneasiness. Once his cards were on the table, I was unable to be enthralled with his story telling. Like a magician who has told you how his trick works, the wonder was gone. "
— Ed, 2/15/2014 -
" More financial than history... "
— Tomas, 2/10/2014 -
" Its a fascinating look at the origins of finance and gives a good background to current financial matters too. Well written and informative even better than the TV series that its based around. "
— Jason, 1/11/2014 -
" I would have given this 4 stars, but the interesting and anecdotal chapters describing money, finance, markets, etc. in their early years were blunted by the chapters on the more recent years. The last few chapters aren't much different from what you hear on the news or learned in history class. "
— Rob, 1/10/2014 -
" This was an interesting history through the lens of the development of financial markets, but if you are not familiar with financial terminology, as I am not, you will probably flounder a bit with the lack of explanation of concepts like discount rate, etc. "
— Freyja, 1/10/2014 -
" Educational but a little hard to read. "
— Emily, 1/5/2014 -
" funny so far. "
— Yilin, 1/4/2014 -
" Colin bought this and raced through it - thought it very well written so now it is my turn. "
— Bev, 1/3/2014 -
" This was not a bad book, but I think my expectations were too high, and it let me down. This book talks about basically the history of finance. And it is written like a boring history book. Some of the chapters were great, like the first few and the last, but it just got boring in the middle. "
— Darrell, 12/26/2013 -
" a good book but author assumes considerable level of economics understanding for general reader "
— Kedarnaik, 12/21/2013 -
" Great overview of the development of the modern financail system Whre did markets star? Bonds? Just the right amount of detail for the general reader. "
— Greg, 12/4/2013 -
" Very interesting account on the origin of money. "
— Giju, 9/23/2013 -
" Provides an interesting briefing on the history of money/markets/etc. "
— Michael, 7/30/2013 -
" Really good. A very interesting and easy read, with some surprising predictions about the most recent recession. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in finance or economics. "
— Lindsey, 5/18/2012 -
" I would be insulting college students if I said that this book reads like a bunch of undergrad papers strung together. And on top of that, the author is very pleased with himself - apparently he foresaw the latest financial crisis. Really, Niall? "
— Sarah, 12/17/2011 -
" Took me a while to get through this as I am not into finance but I did enjoy it. Was well written and explained a full history as well as how much of finance works. "
— Joy, 10/6/2011 -
" I really enjoyed this book and learned things I never understood about banking. This is a good companion book with New York, the Novel since the history overlaps in places. "
— Kathy, 8/7/2011 -
" Grudgingly giving four stars instead of three. Overall very interesting, but an over reliance on simplistic cause and effect analysis. "
— Brian, 7/19/2011 -
" Well written and accessible. Good blend of historical sweep & context of market mechanisms with assessment of current global crisis, as of 2008. "
— Stuart, 5/30/2011 -
" Even this simplification of the subject left me shaking my head in confusion at times, but I have a better understanding of monetary systems now. "
— Michael, 5/4/2011 -
" The author is a professor and the book reads like a textbook. Still, it offers an interesting perspective as to how money has affected pretty much everything in history forever. Follow the money worked in the 1700's and it works today. Go figure. "
— Scott, 4/15/2011 -
" Good historical perspective on the evolution of financial institutions...and impacts (both enabling and destructive) on world events. "
— David, 3/22/2011 -
" Excellent History. The book is at its best when he explains the history of financial/capital investments. The last few chapters are an analysis of the 2008 financial crisis, which almost seems out of place. "
— Sean, 3/6/2011 -
" Excellent history of financial markets, with each of the major markets - banks, stocks, bonds, insurance, real estate - getting its own chapter. Highly recommended to undergraduate students of economics, and especially for those that wish to pursue careers in finance. "
— Deep, 2/16/2011 -
" Took me a while to get through this as I am not into finance but I did enjoy it. Was well written and explained a full history as well as how much of finance works. "
— Joy, 2/16/2011 -
" Good overview. Probably better if it focused on fewer areas. "
— Arie, 2/9/2011
About Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson is one of Britain’s most renowned historians. He is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, a senior research fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is the author of numerous books, including The Ascent of Money, a New York Times bestseller. His Kissinger, a feature-length film based on his interviews with Henry Kissinger, won the 2011 New York Film Festival prize for best documentary. His many other prizes and awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service, the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism.