This collection of essays brings together historians examining social and economic crises from the thirteenth century to the twenty-first. Crisis is an almost ubiquitous concept for historians, applicable across (amongst others) the histories of agriculture, disease, finance and trade. Yet there has been little attempt to compare its use as an explanatory tool between these discrete fields of research. This volume breaks down the boundaries between traditional historical time periods and s...

What is money, and how does it work?The conventional answer is that people once used sugar in the West Indies, tobacco in Virginia, and dried cod in Newfoundland, and that today’s financial universe evolved from barter.Unfortunately, there is a problem with this story. It’s wrong. And not just wrong, but dangerous.Money: the Unauthorised Biography unfolds a panoramic secret history and explains the truth about money: what it is, where it com...

Why are some countries rich and others poor? In 1500, the income differences were small, but they have grown dramatically since Columbus reached America. Since then, the interplay between geography, globalization, technological change, and economic policy has determined the wealth and poverty of nations. The industrial revolution was Britain's path breaking response to the challenge of globalization. Western Europe and North America joined Britain to form a club of rich nations by pursuing...

Why are some parts of the world so rich and others so poor? Why did the Industrial Revolution--and the unprecedented economic growth that came with it--occur in eighteenth-century England, and not at some other time, or in some other place? Why didn't industrialization make the whole world rich--and why did it make large parts of the world even poorer? In A Farewell to Alms, Gregory Clark tackles these profound questions and suggests a new and provocative way in which culture--not...

What is capitalism? Is capitalism the same everywhere? Is there an alternative? The word 'capitalism' is one that is heard and used frequently, but what is capitalism really all about, and what does it mean? The book begins by addressing basic issues such as 'what is capital?' before discussing the history and development of capitalism through three detailed and absorbing case studies ranging from the tulipomania of seventeenth-century Holland to the recent Enron crisis in America. Fulcher...

The definitive biography of John Maynard Keynes, the most significant economic thinker of the world's most consequential century'A wonderfully lucid exposition of complicated ideas ... required reading' Guardian'Clarke's prose sparkles, and his book is the place to begin if you want to understand the economist's personality and charisma' New York TimesIn the midst of our current economic crisis, we...

"The need for realism in reform of its monetary system is what makes Bernstein’s story of the Power of Gold so timely. It is a compelling reminder that maintaining a fixed price for gold and fixed exchange rates were difficult even in a simpler financial environment….Peter Bernstein was reluctant to project the story of gold into the future. But to me his message was clear. Yes, gold will be with us, valued not only for its intrinsic qualities but as a last refuge and store of value in tur...

"An unusual and thoughtful disquisition on how to conduct oneself in a world of high finance and ambition." — The Wall Street JournalA Financial Times Book of the YearCan one be both an ethical person and an effective businessperson? As an ordained priest and former bank chairman, Stephen Green thinks so.In Good Value, Green retraces the history of the global economy and its financial systems, and shows that while the marketplace h...

A sweeping global history of entrepreneurial innovationWhether hailed as heroes or cast as threats to social order, entrepreneurs—and their innovations—have had an enormous influence on the growth and prosperity of nations. The Invention of Enterprise gathers together, for the first time, leading economic historians to explore the entrepreneur's role in society from antiquity to the present. Addressing social and institutional influences from a historical ...

Why did the industrial revolution take place in eighteenth-century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? In this convincing new account Robert Allen argues that the British industrial revolution was a successful response to the global economy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He shows that in Britain wages were high and capital and energy cheap in comparison to other countries in Europe and Asia. As a result, the breakthrough technologies of the industrial revolution - th...

Some cities seem destined to become major financial capitals, yet never do—Seville, for instance, was the centre of Spain's opulent New World Empire, but failed to become a financial metropolis. Others, like former colonial backwater Hong Kong, defy the odds by growing into major trading centres. What are the key factors distinguishing those cities that become wealthy from those that don't? Christopher Kennedy illuminates how geography, technology, and especially the infrastructure of urba...

MARXISM has failed and welfare state capitalism is crippled. Governments need a strategy to lift the burden of debt threatening the economy, social harmony and family stability. We can rebuild the community, but only by adopting a policy based on a philosophy that guarantees property rights and prosperity for everyone.