More, Philip Coggan
More, Philip Coggan
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

More
A History of the World Economy from the Iron Age to the Information Age

Author: Philip Coggan

Narrator: Philip Coggan, Kris Dyer

Unabridged: 15 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 03/24/2020


Synopsis

A sweeping history that tracks the development of trade and industry across the world, from Ancient Rome to today.

From the development of international trade fairs in the twelfth century to the innovations made in China, India, and the Arab world, it turns out that historical economies were much more sophisticated that we might imagine, tied together by webs of credit and financial instruments much like our modern economy.
Here, Philip Coggan takes us from the ancient mountains of North Wales through Grand Central station and the great civilizations of Mesopotamia to the factories of Malaysia, showing how changes in agriculture, finance, technology, work, and demographics have driven the progress of human civilization. It's the story of how trade became broader and deeper over thousands of years; how governments have influenced economies, for good or ill; and how societies have repeatedly tried to tame, and harness, finance. More shows how, at every step of our long journey, it was the connection between people that resulted in more trade, more specialization, more freedom, and ultimately, more prosperity.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Anthony on December 16, 2021

This was an interesting glance over the world economy. I should have read this before reading Hayek, Keynes, Marx, Friedman, Mises, Picketty and Sowell (and before listening to about 150 hours of EconTalk). It would have been a good primer. Unfortunately the book is incredibly superficial. I guess th......more

Goodreads review by Russell on April 21, 2021

Probably one of my more abused books - a lot of creases and scruffs. It’s a very comprehensive read but it’s for precisely this reason that I couldn’t retain a lot of information from it......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on August 10, 2020

More of a compendium of great facts from other books and present, modern-time statistics artfully presented, articulated - crafted in a single story of progress. If driven by amassment of wealth that the title implies or the capitalisation of wealth built by a catalyst of multiple effects - is up to......more

Goodreads review by Vibhor on July 16, 2021

Was my first book read dedicated to Economics. Good comprehensive history - kudos to Coggan for compressing it in only 350 pages. Also enjoyed the economist viewpoint of inflation vs interest rates. I had hoped more from the book since it came from an Economist writer. Its articles are succint and l......more

Goodreads review by Pete on May 13, 2021

More : The 10,000 Year Rise of the World Economy (2020) by Phillip Coggan is another account of the world’s rise from poverty to affluence over the past millennium. Coggan is a British business journalist who writes for The Economist. The writing is excellent as to be expected of any Economist write......more


Quotes

This is economics entertainingly and expertly demystified ... "Coggan, a columnist at The Economist, is one of the best financial journalists of his generation ... This is a grown-up book that is not suitable for adolescent Twitter warriors of the left or right.:—THE TIMES Saturday Edition

"A sharp, readable introduction to how the modern economy came to be."
Kirkus Reviews

"A lucid and wide-ranging new history of the global economy."—Financial Times

"By the end of the book, "More" has given the reader a vivid sense of the extraordinary achievements of the interwoven modern world economy, with numerous lively anecdotes. It is quite an accomplishment to find the right length to tell a 10,000-year story while including so much relevant detail."—The Economist

"More is an impressive exercise in expanded journalism, and most readers will find much to agree with in its even-handed and eminently reasonable analysis."—Literary Review

"Boris Johnson doesn't have much time on his hands for reading at the moment. But as the pressure on him to enlarge the state for the sake of recovery intensifies, I can only hope someone is providing him with the odd precis of this kind of book."—Financial Times

"Philip Coggan tells his epic story of humankind's economic development with both wisdom and wit. Brilliantly weaving together a sweeping historical narrative with a focus on the drivers of development, Coggan has written a book that should be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how our modern day economy came into being."
Stephen D. King, senior economic adviser at HSBC and author of Grave New World

"More is an extraordinary achievement. How can it be possible to turn 10,000 years of human endeavor into a tale which is at once exciting, coherent, and surprisingly optimistic? Coggan has a very rare gift. He distills a vast expanse of human history--the history of trade and economic advance--into a beautifully light and elegantly written tale, full of surprises, and free of ideology. I cannot recommend this book highly enough."
Eric Lonergan, author of Money: The Art of Living

"An engaging and highly accessible narrative about the long historical development of global trade, commerce, and innovation. Philip Coggan writes clearly about how and why it all happened, and gives us cause for optimism in difficult times."
George Magnus, author of Red Flags: Why Xi's China Is in Jeopardy

"More takes a vast 10,000-year sweep of economic history and melds it into a compelling story of countries and conflicts, civilizations and civic institutions, stagnations and transformations. All in little more than 300 pages of lucid prose. It is a majestic must-read."
Andy Haldane, chief economist, Bank of England