The Ascent of Money
The Ascent of Money tackles the populist backlash that followed the 2008 crisis, the descent of "Chimerica" into a trade war, and the advent of cryptocurrencies. It introduces finance as the backbone of history, casting a new light on familiar events: the Renaissance enabled by Italian foreign exchange dealers, the French Revolution traced back to a stock market bubble, the 2008 crisis traced from America's bankruptcy capital, Memphis, to China's boomtown, Chongqing.
Praise for The Ascent of Money
"Before regulators throw block trades, bond swaps, bridge financing, butterfly spreads and Black-Scholes out with the bathwater, they should find time to read Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money."
— The Wall Street Journal
"[An] excellent, just in time guide to the history of finance and financial crisis."
"Shrewdly anticipates many aspects of the current financial crisis, which has toppled banks, precipitated gigantic government bailouts, and upended global markets."
— Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"Good old-fashioned narrative history, complete with heroes and villains, visionaries and scoundrels."
— James Pressley, Bloomberg