Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to
replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people
from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this
version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it.
In the book, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of
conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the
beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate
credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention
of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first
encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber
shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the
center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking
innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the
language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,”
“sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about
debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are
still fighting these battles today without knowing it.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years is
a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—as well as how it
has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of
the present day and the future of our economy. We highly suggest you read this book and perform your own fact checking (just like with the Deep Capture material) on anything you find suspect. When you finish, you will view finance and monetary policy in an entirely new light.
Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar interviewed David Graeber (from February 12, 2012)
David Graeber On Charlie Rose
