Choice Reviews Online· 2012
Debt: the first 5,000 years
- 1,185citations
- 2012year
Short summary
Contrary to economic textbooks, 5,000-year-old agrarian empires used elaborate credit systems, not money, to replace barter, leading to societies divided into debtors and creditors.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Economic textbooks incorrectly claim money replaced barter; evidence points to credit systems in early agrarian empires.
- Elaborate credit systems existed 5,000 years ago, creating distinct debtor and creditor classes.
- The shift from virtual credit to coinage led to increased interest rates, debt slavery, and violence.
- Historical interventions by kings and churches were rare but crucial in preventing the debt system from spiraling out of control.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
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. Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that 5,000 years ago, during the beginning of the agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems. It is in this era, Graeber shows, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors. With the passage of time, however, virtual credit money was replaced by gold and silver coins—and the system as a whole began to decline. Interest rates spiked and the indebted became slaves. And the system perpetuated itself with tremendously violent consequences, with only the rare intervention of kings and churches keeping the system from spiraling out of control. 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.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Choice Reviews Online, 2012 · DOI ↗
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Field: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
General Economics, Econometrics and FinanceEconomics, Econometrics and Finance