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The Cash Nexus: Money and Politics in Modern History, 1700-2000

By: Niall Ferguson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 0140293337
ISBN-13: 9780140293333
Released: 04 Apr 2002
RRP: £14.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

The cash nebulous - By: karen izzaha, 30 Mar 2006
I purchased this book on the basis of the on-line reviews anticipating a study of financial history.

Whilst it is reasonable on the history of currency, banking, & international finance it drifts off badly into loose discussions of UK politics, democracy & development, & the rise of the US economy. None of this material is particularly convincing & is based far too much on citations.

Overalll I found it a frustrating read. There is a too much of a feeling that the author is a moderator in a debate which he doesn't fully understand.

Hard going but worth the effort - By: Heino Viik, 22 Jun 2003
The book's scope is much wider than its title would imply. The author analyzes why some regimes have been more successful than others during past 300 years. The book emphasizes importance of four institutions as the bases of financial strength (and long-term success) of the state:
- a tax-collecting bureaucracy
- a representative parliament
- a national debt
- a central bank

There is lot of intellectual gymnastics with figures & facts in the middle of the book that test your determination to go on. Those who persevere get rewarded with the interesting discussion in the end of the book about defense expenses as a insurance policy for the state & a need for a superpower policeman for the free world in order to make peace & prosperity to last.

Read & find out if you agree with the conclusions of the author.
An excellent book but it does tend to drift off in places - By: richard.warner@uwe.ac.uk, 28 Feb 2001
Overalll an excellent book that look at the link of bond prices democracy, politics & a nation-states power. It is very informative & contains alot of data simply set out; especiallly useful if you just happening to be doing a degree at the time.

My favourite aspect of this book is the completely fresh look ( even if I don't agree with alll of it ) it takes at national power rather than rehashing old books with little, if anything, new to say.

Saying that the book at times does drift off losing alll sense of structure especiallly in the middle covering the links between political parties & various lobby groups.

This does not stop being easy to read & comprehend while still being extremely informative.