Book ID: CBB001421563

Debt: The First 5,000 Years (2011)

unapi

Graeber, David (Author)


Melville House


Publication Date: 2011
Physical Details: 534 pp.; ill.; bibl.; index
Language: English

Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems---to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There's not a shred of evidence to support it. Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that 5,000 years ago, during the beginning of the agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems. It is in this era, Graeber shows, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors. With the passage of time, however, virtual credit money was replaced by gold and silver coins---and the system as a whole began to decline. Interest rates spiked and the indebted became slaves. And the system perpetuated itself with tremendously violent consequences, with only the rare intervention of kings and churches keeping the system from spiraling out of control. Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history---as well as how it has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.

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Reviewed By

Review Naidu, Suresh (2012) Review of "Debt: The First 5,000 Years". Journal of Global History (pp. 331-332). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001421563/

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Authors & Contributors
Massimo Gargano
Eneko López Martínez de Marigorta
Vincenzo Carlotta
Victor Margolin
Mauger, Matthew
Erasmo D'Angelis
Concepts
Agriculture
Gold
Economics
Money
Coins; medals; seals
Silver
Time Periods
Medieval
Ancient
Modern
Early modern
Prehistory
19th century
Places
China
England
United States
Andalusia (Spain)
Hamburg (Germany)
Southern states (U.S.)
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