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Paper Promises: Debt, Money, And The New World Order (2012)

by Philip Coggan(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1610391268 (ISBN13: 9781610391269)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

PublicAffairs

review 1: Another book on economics in general and debt in particular. This one is from an author who also writes for the Economist. And it shows. In a good way. The story is very readable and well-constructed. It shows how we moved from bartering, metal, the gold standard, Bretton Woods, to the dollar standard. The author describes debt as basically a struggle between creditor and debtor and, if seen this way, how it clarifies debt struggles throughout the ages. Especially 2007-2008 is analyzed. The post-Bretton Woods system has broken down, that much is made clear. Interesting are the chapters where the author theorizes on possible solutions. One of the most scary, interesting ones, highly rated as possible by the author, is one where the biggest creditor on earth, China, puts its... more mark on a new system. It would probably be about taking away free capital flows. Just imagine how this would nearly wipe out an entire industry... maybe that is not even a bad thing, giving how this industry has benefited from good investment calls, while pushing away bad debt to us, the tax payer.
review 2: Excellent book!!! Helps you understand the current financial crisis through the lens of Debtors and Creditors. China is the biggest creditor while the US is the biggest debtor (contrary to what existed pre 1950s). Governments in all countries always try and protect the interests of debtors and not creditors. Excess debt will probably lead to three things 1) inflation, 2) stagnation 3) default. Any currency devaluations is in effect an indirect way of default. The US currency has depreciated by 98% since 1971 after the fall of the Bretton Woods treaty and when the US de-linked to the Gold standard. less

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