The History of Money: A Story of Humanity

The evolution of money is intricately tied to major developments in politics, science, and art, according to this insightful history. Economist McWilliams (The Pope’s Children) begins in ancient Sumeria, where municipal granaries functioned much like central banks, issuing long-term loans that got people thinking about the future as opportunity and about “the price of time.” He moves on to the invention of coins, which democratized money by letting ordinary people shape the economy to their needs rather than elite dictates. The Roman empire, he suggests, collapsed in part because emperors reduced the silver content of coins, an early instance of inflation destroying trust in government. Medieval Florence developed fractional reserve banking, wherein banks create money by issuing loans beyond the value of their deposits, along with double-entry bookkeeping, both of which fixated European minds on precise numerical analysis in the lead-up to the Age of Reason. McWilliams goes on to cover everything from the 18th-century invention of “fiat” currency (at first a disaster leading to major market crashes, but ultimately a boon for growth) through cryptocurrency, which he describes as an “elaborate scam.” Among the narrative’s many fascinating asides, an account of James Joyce’s financing of a Dublin movie theater prompts a rich disquisition on the resonances between entrepreneurship and art. It makes for a remarkably humanistic view of mere lucre. (Nov.)