Interview with Edward Chancellor, author of The Price of Time: Interest, Capitalism and the Curse of Easy Money
Edward Chancellor, author of The Price of Time: Interest, Capitalism and the Curse of Easy Money recommends some brilliant books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Edward's book:
Review from Book Depository:
All economic and financial activities take place across time. Interest coordinates these activities. The story of capitalism is thus the story of interest: the price that individuals, companies and nations pay to borrow money.
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The Price of Time: Interest, Capitalism and the Curse of Easy Money
In The Price of Time, Edward Chancellor traces the history of interest from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through debates about usury in Restoration Britain and John Law ' s ill-fated Mississippi scheme, to the global credit booms of the twenty-first century. We generally assume that high interest rates are harmful, but Chancellor argues that, whenever money is too easy, financial markets become unstable. He takes the story to the present day, when interest rates have sunk lower than at any time in the five millennia since they were first recorded - including the extraordinary appearance of negative rates in Europe and Japan - and highlights how this has contributed to profound economic insecurity and financial fragility.
Chancellor reveals how extremely low interest rates not only create asset price inflation but are also largely responsible for weak economic growth, rising inequality, zombie companies, elevated debt levels and the pensions crises that have afflicted the West in recent years - conditions under which economies cannot possibly thrive. At the same time, easy money in China has inflated an epic real estate bubble, accompanied by the greatest credit and investment boom in history. As the global financial system edges closer to yet another crisis, Chancellor shows that only by understanding interest can we hope to face the challenges ahead.
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Book Depository €22.63
Waterstones £25.00
Wordery $23.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Felix Martin’s Money: The Unauthorized Biography Review From Book Depository:
What is money, and how does it work? In this tour de force of political, cultural, and economic history, Felix Martin challenges nothing less than our conventional understanding of one of humankind's greatest inventions. Martin describes how the Western idea of money emerged in the ancient world, and was shaped over the centuries by tensions between sovereigns and the emerging middle classes. Money, he argues, has always been an intensely political instrument, and that it is our failure to remember this that led to the crisis in our financial system and the Great Recession.
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I’ve been writing about finance for a long time, but until reading this book I hadn’t thought deeply about the nature of money. Felix Martin’s book comprises a grand historical sweep, is scholarly and highly readable.
Money: The Unauthorized Biography
He concludes with practical solutions for making money serve us--and, in an introduction and epilogue new to this edition, a discussion of what Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mean for money's future. From John Locke to Montesquieu, from Sparta to the Soviet Union, Money is a far-ranging and magisterial work of history and economics, with profound implications for the world today.
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Book Depository €16.91
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $16.99
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
Vaclav Smil’s Grand Transitions: How the Modern World was Made Review From Book Depository:
What makes the modern world work? The answer to this deceptively simple question lies in four "grand transitions" of civilization-in populations, agriculture, energy, and economics-which have transformed the way we live.
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Smil writes about how energy transitions over the past few centuries have produced unprecedented economic prosperity for mankind. We are now on the cusp of another energy transition. Smil’s book helps one understand the challenges ahead.
Grand Transitions : How the Modern World Was Made
Societies that have undergone all four transitions emerge into an era of radically different population dynamics, food surpluses (and waste), abundant energy use, and expanding economic opportunities. Simultaneously, in other parts of the world, hundreds of millions remain largely untouched by these developments.
Through erudite storytelling, Vaclav Smil investigates the fascinating and complex interactions of these transitions. He argues that the moral imperative to share modernity's benefits has become more acute with increasing economic inequality, but addressing this imbalance would make it exceedingly difficult to implement the changes necessary for the long-term preservation of the environment. Thus, managing the fifth transition-environmental changes from natural-resource depletion, biodiversity
loss, and global warming-will determine the success or eventual failure of the grand transitions that have made the world we live in today.
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Easons €32.19
Book Depository €31.47
Waterstones £22.99
Wordery $34.18
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
No particular book, but I loved reading the Ladybird history books when I was a child. They were published by a small English publisher, later acquired by Penguin. These illustrated volumes were a perfect introduction for learning about the past.
Review From Book Depository:
This history book from Ladybird is the ideal homework help book for primary school children who are learning about the ancient Romans at school. Packed with everything a child needs to know about Roman life and times, it is perfect for all school project work, with a timeline, glossary and index included for easy reference.
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Ladybird Histories: Romans
Fully illustrated and full of fascinating bite-size facts, Ladybird Histories: Romans features information about what people wore, what jobs they did, how they lived, children's lives, and key emperors such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Constantine and Claudius. There is also interesting information about Roman roads, baths and even Pompeii.
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Book Depository €9.65
Wordery $8.44
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I read books for work in hard copy, as they’re easier for taking notes. Novels on Kindle, especially when traveling. I tend to fall asleep listening to audiobooks.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
My current favourite bookshop is Lutyens and Rubinstein, a London bookshop in North Kensington, London, run by two literary agents. It has a fine selection of recently published books. Well worth a visit.
Many thanks to Edward for recommending some brilliant books! Please don't forget to check out Edward's book The Price of Time: Interest, Capitalism and the Curse of Easy Money.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Ebury Publishing (Chatter, My Lobotomy), Vintage Publishing (Man's Search For Meaning, Goodbye, Colombus).
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