The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession

[Robert Muir]

Just finished reading "The Power of Gold" by Peter Bernstein. Fascinating history of both gold and money in general.
We, as modern 21st century humans, find it humorous when we read accounts of tribes using sea shells or giant stone wheels for money, but then we turn around a treat some soft, virtually useless metal that is very difficult to extract from the ground as a currency.
I find it amazing that the gold standard lasted as long as it did. Imagine tying the growth of our GDP, through the Internet age and beyond, to a fixed amount of metal that we may or may not be able to dig up from the ground.
There isn't a lot of actionable information in the book, but if you're curious to learn of the history of currency and something of how economics was applied in practice, this book is outstanding for the purpose. Bernstein is an excellent writer and I'm looking forward to reading "Against the Gods" and "Capital Ideas".

[jacob]

On a similar note, also read Yergin's "The Prize" about the history of oil.

[Robert Muir]

Looks excellent! It's added to my pleasure reading list.

[Matthew]

Definitely funny how gold is veiwed as so important. It does have useful properties. However, it is a great example for greed. The more rare something is the more everyone wants their hands on it.