In 2007, the value of all asset-backed securities plummeted, and people were in trouble as banks took over securities. Recessions will occur because history repeats itself. In 2007, the Western world was hit by a financial crisis that brought back memories of previous financial difficulties. Risk was thus allocated to those who could bear it. Financial innovations have resulted in fundamental efficacy improvements in the global capital market. People are always trading and creating new financial life forms.ĭespite the aftermath of 9/11, global finance experienced sustained financial expansion from late 2001 to mid-2007. The globalization of finance has blurred the distinctions between developed and emerging markets, such as communist China becoming the banker of capitalist America. People who live in the safest countries in the world are also the most insured. Corporate finance was and continues to be the foundation of many empires. Technological advancement has improved civilization, and the evolution of credit and debt is one of these significant steps forward. Whether people like it or not, money is the driving force behind the majority of human progress. There is a hostile attitude toward anything and everyone involved in lending money.

The Root of ProgressĪround a billion people worldwide struggle to make ends meet on one dollar per day, and people are outraged that capitalists profit from this inequity. This book summary provides an overview of everything you can learn from it. You do not have to read the entire book if you don’t have time. Many of the financial crises that people are experiencing today are the result of history repeating itself, and only by understanding our own financial history will we be able to truly avoid them. He explains the building blocks that created money as we know it, beginning with ancient Mesopotamia and ending with the ongoing struggles that people face with money today.Īccording to Ferguson, credit and debt were as important to the rise of civilization as any other technological innovation. Quick Summary: In The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson tells the human story behind the financial system’s step-by-step evolution (2009).

The ascent of money