000			02316nam a22002057a 4500
999			_c3998 _d3998
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008			230104b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780691178370
082			_a332.09 _bGOE
100			_aGoetzmann, William N. _9285
245			_aMoney changes everything: _bhow finance made civilization possible
260			_bPrinceton University Press _aPrinceton _c2016
300			_aviii, 588 p.
365			_aUSD _b19.95
520			_aIn the aftermath of recent financial crises, it’s easy to see finance as a wrecking ball: something that destroys fortunes and jobs, and undermines governments and banks. In Money Changes Everything, leading financial historian William Goetzmann argues the exact opposite—that the development of finance has made the growth of civilizations possible. Goetzmann explains that finance is a time machine, a technology that allows us to move value forward and backward through time; and that this innovation has changed the very way we think about and plan for the future. He shows how finance was present at key moments in history: driving the invention of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, spurring the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome to become great empires, determining the rise and fall of dynasties in imperial China, and underwriting the trade expeditions that led Europeans to the New World. He also demonstrates how the apparatus we associate with a modern economy—stock markets, lines of credit, complex financial products, and international trade—were repeatedly developed, forgotten, and reinvented over the course of human history. Exploring the critical role of finance over the millennia, and around the world, Goetzmann details how wondrous financial technologies and institutions—money, bonds, banks, corporations, and more—have helped urban centers to expand and cultures to flourish. And it’s not done reshaping our lives, as Goetzmann considers the challenges we face in the future, such as how to use the power of finance to care for an aging and expanding population. Money Changes Everything presents a fascinating look into the way that finance has steered the course of history.
650			_aCivilization _9481
650			_aEconomic history _91697
650			_aEconomic history _91697
942			_2ddc _cBK