Money : The Unauthorised Biography

The essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand how our economic system really works, what has gone wrong with it, and what we can do to fix it. What is money and how does it work? The conventional answer is that once upon a time people exchanged what they produced for what they wanted--cod in Newfoundland, sugar in the West Indies, tobacco in Virginia--and that today's financial universe evolved from barter. But there is a problem with this story. It's wrong. And dangerous. Putting the record straight, Money: The Unauthorised Biography draws on stories from around the world and throughout history, from the primitive tribe using as cash an enormous underwater stone wheel to the credits used by modern-day babysitting circles, taking in along the way spendthrift Dauphins, sixteenth-century vampire squid, rituals of sacrificial feasts in Ancient Greece, and the credit crisis in Ancient Rome (an eerie pre-echo of recent events). In wonderfully witty and lucid style Felix Martin unfolds this panoramic secret history and explains the truth about money: what it is, where it comes from, and how it works. His absorbing account will rearrange your understanding of the world and show how money can once again become the most powerful force for good. By misunderstanding money we have become its slaves. This book sets us straight in order to set us free.