Eric Conger Peter L. Bernstein Social Sciences English

e-Book The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession download

by Eric Conger,Peter L. Bernstein

ISBN: 0375416080
ISBN13: 978-0641711671
Language: English
Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (October 3, 2000)
Category: Social Sciences
Subategory: Sociology

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Peter L. Bernstein describes The Power of Gold in terms of a morality play. Gold is an obsession. The history of gold is a fascinating one, full of twists and turns, which this book tells is a very interesting and far from dry manner.

Peter L. The book starts with the history of gold as jewelry, as a sign of wealth and power, and as a form of money, going as far back as the Egyptians and Lydian's, and then advancing to the Romans, the Middle Ages, the French and English of the 17th to 20th centuries and finally to gold in America. The focus of much of the book is on the Gold Standard and whether or not this is a good idea. BERNSTEIN For Barbara, once again and always. They wonder much to hear that gold, which in itself is so useless a thing, should be everywhere so much esteemed, that even men for whom. Peter creates a unique intellectual adventure that is challenging, exciting, and great fun. He has once again showed me how to transform a heap of jumbled ideas into a coherent whole.

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession. Written by Peter L. Bernstein. Power and passion begin with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession. Narrated by Eric Conger. Power and passion begin with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold. As the story progresses from primitive uses to the invention of coinage and the transformation of gold into money and the gold standard, gold speaks more loudly of power as it acquires increasing importance as money. Ultimately, the book confronts the future of gold, in a world where gold has been relegated to the periphery of global finance.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-407) and index

Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-407) and index. Prologue: The supreme possession - Get gold at all hazards - Midas's wish and the creatures of pure chance - Darius's bathtub and the cackling of the geese - The symbol and the faith - Gold, salt, and the blessed town - The legacy of Eoba, Babba, and Udd - The great chain reaction

In this exciting book, the late Peter L. Bernstein tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold

In this exciting book, the late Peter L. Bernstein tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. Such is the power of gold.

In this exciting new book, Peter L. Bernstein, who chronicled the evolution of risk in his recent bestseller, Against the . From the Bible to the Gold Rush era to modern day Fort Knox and beyond, unforgettable characters stride through these pages. Bernstein, who chronicled the evolution of risk in his recent bestseller, Against the Gods, tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. Gold had them, rather than the other way around.

Praise for Peter Bernstein and the power of Gold "The story of gold–in all its splendor and mythology, its fascinationfor individuals and nations alike. Peter Bernstein is up to the challenge. His spritely exposition is a fine read even as it makes us think and reflect. -Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve. a wonderfully interesting view;-not alone of gold but of the greater economic history. Like other of his work, it is assured of a wide readership.

The Power of Gold book.

Bernstein is the author of ten books in economics and finance and countless articles in professional journals such as. .This book won the Edwin G. Booz Prize for the most insightful, innovative management book published in 1996.

He has contributed to collections of articles published by Perseus and FT Mastering, among others. Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk", was published by John Wiley & Sons in September 1996

These proceedings contain the papers covering materials for high temperature power plant. U N E S C O General History of Africa.

These proceedings contain the papers covering materials for high temperature power plant. Systems Thinking, : Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture. Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Volume I. Methodology and African Prehistory. Dietary Reference Intakes.

Read by the author4 casettes/ 6 hoursOver the centuries, gold had stirred the passions for power and glory, for beauty and security, and even for immortality. No other object has commanded so much veneration over such a long period of time. The most striking feature of this long history is that gold led most of the protagonists in the drama into the ditch. Gold had them, rather than the other way around.Power and passion begin with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold. As the story progresses from primitive uses to the invention of coinage and the transformation of gold into money and the gold standard, gold speaks more loudly of power as it acquires increasing importance as money. Ultimately, the book confronts the future of gold, in a world where gold has been relegated to the periphery of global finance.Along the way, we meet Moses and Midas, Croesus and Crassus, Byzantine emperors and humble miners, unscrupulous moneyers and ransomed kings, Francisco Pizzaro and Benvenuto Cellini, Charlemange and Charles de Gaulle, Richard I and Richard Nixon, Asian monarchs and Arab potentates, Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill, David Ricardo and John Maynard Keynes, and the Forty-Niners and the speculators who pushed gold to $850 an ounce in 1980. It has been an icon for greed and an emblem of rectitude, as well as a vehicle for vanity and a badge of power that has shaped the destiny of humanity through the ages.In the end, this story is a morality tale. The pursuit of eternity will not be satisfied by gold, or by anything else we choose to rpelace gold. Gold as an end in itself is meaningless. Hoarding does not create wealth. Gold makes sense only as a means to an end; to beautify, to adorn, to exchange for what we want and need.

Comments:

Redfury

Peter L. Bernstein describes The Power of Gold in terms of a morality play. Gold is an obsession. Gold is greed. Gold is evil. Gold currency is outdated and prevents nations from satisfying their national needs for war. Gold is a friend of the haves and an enemy of the have-nots. Gold is an ally of aristocrats and an enemy of workers. All the many historical examples of gold as money end badly; gold is overthrown and paper money triumphs. The knowledgeable reader will have many questions throughout the 372 page cavernous history of gold. Do not probe too deeply. You will not find any counter factual information to the morality play. Instead, read the book to learn a fascinating aspect of human civilization from the ancient Mediterranean world to modern times.

Let me list the problems with the book and a few of the many unanswered questions:
1. If gold is an obsession, as stated in the subtitle of the book, can gold be any more an obsession that the Platonic virtues of truth, beauty and goodness? Is it possible that gold is in fact a manifestation of virtue and only becomes evil when it excludes other virtuous behaviors?
2. If gold has failed many times as currency, have the replacements for gold failed an equal number of times? Is gold more or less susceptible to political and financial manipulation than paper money?
3. What is the relationship between paper currency, gold, credit and debt? How can the citizens of a democratic society accumulate wealth that resists the manipulation of governments and markets? Is personal wealth a private good that should be protected or a public good subservient to public needs?
4. Is the expansion and contraction of the supply of money, either paper or gold, a macroeconomic zero sum game of winners and losers like a game of poker?
5. In a global economy how can sovereign states resolve their debts without war? How can bankrupt nations repay their debts? What reference should be used to arbitrate different national values of productivity, debt and currency?
6. Is gold a strategic substance like oil, copper, steel and rare earths? Why do sovereign nations own so much of it? Why do nations keep most of the world supply of gold locked up in underground vaults? If gold is not money, what is its strategic importance to sovereign nations?

I see two possible outcomes to reading this book. One, you will be satisfied with your new found understanding of the power of gold. Or two, you will be fascinated by Bernstein's erudition but feel cheated that Bernstein does not proffer the reasons for the provocative power of gold.

Bil

While this book was written in 2000, it is a very timely read. With gold going for about $1600 a troy ounce, it is important to understand the importance of gold as a store of value and as money, or as the backing for paper money. The history of gold is a fascinating one, full of twists and turns, which this book tells is a very interesting and far from dry manner. The book starts with the history of gold as jewelry, as a sign of wealth and power, and as a form of money, going as far back as the Egyptians and Lydian's, and then advancing to the Romans, the Middle Ages, the French and English of the 17th to 20th centuries and finally to gold in America. The focus of much of the book is on the Gold Standard and whether or not this is a good idea. The book presents both sides of the argument, namely that governments cannot be trusted to maintain a stable currency, but that while the gold standard can stabilize things it does so at the price of not being able to do much when the economy falters. The book provides a lot of examples that show that the Gold Standard is not a panacea and that even with the Gold Standard economies do falter, forcing governments to abandon it. This said, the book is not doctrinaire in its opposition to the Gold Standard and has a prescient warning for the future given on the last page of the book, namely, "Gold may again serve as the ultimate hedge in chaotic conditions. Its return to its traditional role as universal money is unlikely, however, unless the time should come when the dollar, the euro and the yen have all failed to function as acceptable means of payment across international boarders."

I learned a lot of interesting things from this book, for example:
1) An ounce of gold is a troy ounce, not the type of ounce that is generally used for weighing things.
2) A scarcity of gold for coins always seems to lead to debasement, or the devaluing of paper money that it is supposed to back.
3) I learned about the history of the Bank of England and how it served as a model for the First Bank of the Unites States.
4) The use of a bimetallic system (gold and silver as coinage, with a fixed exchange rate) is shown over and over again not to be viable.
5) I learned about the origin of the term "greenback" and the fact that they were still being printed until 1971.
6) I learned how gold influenced the world's economy and why many felt that they could not do without the Gold Standard, only to find out that they had to do without it.
7) The gold standard was deemed to be nothing short of ordained by the heavens, only to be abandoned when it constrained economic growth, only to be adopted again if inflation got out of hand.
8) I learned about the rise and fall of the price of gold in the 1980's

I liked this book and think that it has a lot to offer, but there a few negatives that prevented me from giving the book a five-star rating. There is not very much information on the banking in the early Unites States. The first and second Banks of the Unite States are just mentioned briefly, with the discussion of currency issues in the US only really beginning with the Civil War, but with very little information on the Federal Reserve System. My second concern is the presence of numerous minor errors. For instance, as a metallurgist I know that the statement that "gold does not mix with other metals" is completely false. I found other minor errors, so many that I was forced to verify things with a second source. I did not feel that these errors invalidated the arguments presented in the book, but I read this book as a source for information for a lecture that I was presenting, so accuracy was more critical than if I had just been reading this book casually. I sense that the book lacked comprehensive editorial control and a good fact checker. My final concern is that the book was written in 2000, before the explosion in the price of gold. This is a very important event, which except for the quotation mentioned above, could not be discussed in a book written in 2000. Nonetheless, the book does give an important historical reference from which to consider this price explosion, the future course of the price of gold and the effect of this price explosion may have on the world's economy.

SlingFire

If you are a history buff, this is a must read. Once coin was invented, there was no going back.

Iaran

Not your typical gold book (most are Buy Gold Now! type books - this is an honest history), the author is a true historian that writes in a very easy to read and compelling style. I actually laughed out loud twice while reading his footnotes! One of the best books out there for getting a historical look at gold and its role in our world. Also gets you current on the last 100 years of the forces driving the international money supply.
Bernstein also wrote Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, another great read and hard to put down (a must for any gambler/investor).

Roram

Gold has an interesting history. It's something that has beguiled mankind for centuries, yet it has no intrinsic worth. No great industry relies on a supply of gold to produce goods. We decorate ourselves with it, enjoy its non-tarnishing luster. Why has it played such an important role in our history?

Bernstein does a satisfactory job of recounting how gold moved from simple adornment to being the bedrock of monetary systems and finance (a lot of it has to do with the simple coincidence that it was coveted universally, but easily standardized in weight and was transportable - unlike other commodities.) It's a bit dry, and not as interesting as his history of probability in "Against the Gods."

Still it's a useful look into how gold has moved societies, especially as finance matured after the start of the Enlightenment. Bernstein's explanation of the gold standard's creation in the 19th century, and its demise in the 20th, is something most people should be familiar with.

A generally good read.