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Nae's Reviews > Debt: The First 5,000 Years
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
by
by
Graeber's work is not limited to a description of how debt operates, nor an original explanation why it evolved in the way it did and not in a radically different way. His book is mesmerizing to read or listen (Debt - audiobook version) it is full of insights and epiphanies, affectionate, and energetic.
The historical facts, the case studies, the arcane byways of economic theory - all seem to have been made with Graeber's own brain and go through a process of filtering and editing. He begins his story at the very dawn of money and debt, in ancient Mesopotamia, and from there proceeds to the present, with plenty of excursions into the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and other flash points in the history of human commerce. He paints a picture of a world strangely different from the one we know: societies made up of interlocking webs of mutual obligations, with few or no stores of value or general measure of wealth.
The historical evidence is often murky Graeber quotes an absurd Babylonian text to show what he calls the paradox of debt: a way of thinking about money that strikes us as upside-down. Even as the contradiction vanishes, his book remains not just a folly but a serious folly.
If you're at all interested in where our economy came from, I strongly suggest listening this book.
The historical facts, the case studies, the arcane byways of economic theory - all seem to have been made with Graeber's own brain and go through a process of filtering and editing. He begins his story at the very dawn of money and debt, in ancient Mesopotamia, and from there proceeds to the present, with plenty of excursions into the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and other flash points in the history of human commerce. He paints a picture of a world strangely different from the one we know: societies made up of interlocking webs of mutual obligations, with few or no stores of value or general measure of wealth.
The historical evidence is often murky Graeber quotes an absurd Babylonian text to show what he calls the paradox of debt: a way of thinking about money that strikes us as upside-down. Even as the contradiction vanishes, his book remains not just a folly but a serious folly.
If you're at all interested in where our economy came from, I strongly suggest listening this book.
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Debt.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
Finished Reading
May 1, 2024
– Shelved
