The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000

Cash and credit are king. All of Niall Ferguson books are must read stuff. This one is no exception.

i have read a number of Niall Ferguson books and appreciate his books very much. He is an excellent writer and able to synthesize a information from economics, history, politics and philosophy.This book,unlike some of his other books, is a serious attempt at economic history. By definition, then, most lay-readers without an economic background may be rightly intimidated by this work. As most serious economic texts are the book is dense and can be tough reading. This is not because Ferguson is a bad writer, but because the dismal science is a tough subject.This book is essentially about how in terms of economics, wars and military conflicts have driven the world. Ferguson takes the years 1700-2000 and keeping in mind this book was first published in 2001 this makes eminent sense.The book is supported by many facts and figures and may graphs. As far as books about economics og, I learned quite a bit and enjoyed the book. In its 450+ pages, this is a survey of many events in history, as well as economics, and it was always interesting. As I said, not a easy beach read, but if you want to read something challenging from which you will learn, this is a good place to start.If you have little interest in economics or no background, I would recommend other Ferguson books, or Sowell's Basic Economics as a start.However, this is a really good book and deserves to be read, irrespective if you agree or disagree with his thesis.

Good book and good experience with you.

Only issue was that the packaging was sub standard. No bubble envelope. Book was fine but could very easily have been damaged in transit.

It's a wonderful review of financial and general economic history of the West for the last 300 years.

This book is a fascinating read for everyone who is interested in the application of economic theory to world history. Reviewing and rejecting economic determinist theories like marxism, the political business cycle and imperial overstretch, Ferguson advances his own argument. It is war that brought us modern finance, bureaucracy and democracy. The outcome of war cannot be predicted with accuracy, but the nation that can finance it at least costs has a comparative advantage. Ferguson skillfully applies modern expectations theory to his historical account. He argues that military hegemony can spread good institutions around the globe as happened under British rule. You can disagree with his plea for benevolent imperialism in an age in which nations want to determine their own future. Moreover, it is questionable whether war `pays', since the costs of war exceeded revenues in most cases as Ferguson points out. But, this did not stop nations and groups from waging war.

Ordinary people tend to downgrade the books full of brilliant insight just because they cannot fully understand its contents

THIS IS A RATING ONLY OF THE KINDLE FORMATTING, NOT THE BOOK ITSELF. Until Amazon allows for a review specifically of the Kindle formatting or another score within a review, I am forced to score the book poorly. Though this isn't the worst book for formating I've read on the Kindle, it is the worst one I've paid for. I expect a difficult or unpleasant reading experience out of free e-books, but for one I pay more than $0.99 for I expect MORE. None of the end notes are hyperlinked forcing the interested reader to have to guess-navigate to and from the end notes. Worst of all, though, occurs in Chapter 12 where a sentence abruptly ends into a numbered list. "What, that train of thought doesn't make any sense. Oh well, maybe I just don't understand. Just carry-on.... wait, I've read this before." That's right. Someone must have accidentally COPIED-AND-PASTED select paragraphs inadvertently on two different occasions in the same chapter. Talk about losing the point AND the reader. Did this happen earlier when I was confused and just didn't know it. Don't waste your money on the overly priced Kindle Format until the publisher guarantees the format.