New Releases by Niall Ferguson

Ferguson tells the human story behind the evolution of money, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest Wall Street upheavals. The author shows that finance is, in fact, the foundation of human progress.

Geschiedenis van het Britse koloniale rijk en de rol die het Britse kolonialisme sedert de negentiende eeuw heeft gespeeld bij de vorming van de moderne wereld.

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower Is America an empire? Certainly not, according to our government. Despite the conquest of two sovereign states in as many years, despite the presence of more than 750 military installations in two thirds of the world’s countries and despite his stated intention "to extend the benefits of freedom...to every corner of the world," George W. Bush maintains that "America has never been an empire." "We don’t seek empires," insists Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. "We’re not imperialistic." Nonsense, says Niall Ferguson. In Colossus he argues that in both military and economic terms America is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Just like the British Empire a century ago, the United States aspires to globalize free markets, the rule of law, and representative government. In theory it’s a good project, says Ferguson. Yet Americans shy away from the long-term commitments of manpower and money that are indispensable if rogue regimes and failed states really are to be changed for the better. Ours, he argues, is an empire with an attention deficit disorder, imposing ever more unrealistic timescales on its overseas interventions. Worse, it’s an empire in denial—a hyperpower that simply refuses to admit the scale of its global responsibilities. And the negative consequences will be felt at home as well as abroad. In an alarmingly persuasive final chapter Ferguson warns that this chronic myopia also applies to our domestic responsibilities. When overstretch comes, he warns, it will come from within—and it will reveal that more than just the feet of the American colossus is made of clay.

Conventional wisdom has long claimed that economic change is the prime mover of political change, whether in the age of industry or Internet. But is it? Ferguson thinks it is high time we re-examined the link -- the nexus, in Thomas Carlyle''s phrase -- between economics and politics. His central argument is that the conflicting impulses of sex, violence, and power are together more powerful than money.Among Ferguson''s startling claims are: -- Nothing has done more to transform the world economy than war, yet wars themselves do not have primarily economic causes.-- The present age of economic globalization is coinciding -- paradoxically -- with political and military fragmentation.-- Financial crises are frequently caused by unforeseen political events rather than economic fluctuations.-- The relationship between prosperity and government popularity is largely illusory.-- Since political and economic liberalization are not self-perpetuating, the so-called triumph of democracy worldwide may be short-lived.A bold synthesis of political history and modern economic theory, Cash Nexus will transform the landscape of modern history and draw challenging conclusions about the prospects of both capitalism and democracy.

La idea de que el dinero hace girar el mundo es una nocion seductora. El cambio economico parece haber sido el primer motor del cambio politico, tanto en la era de la industria como en la de Internet. Niall Ferguson desafia este supuesto al ofrecer una historia radicalmente nueva sobre el nexo entre el dinero y el poder. A lo largo de la historia moderna b"sostiene el autor- han sido tanto las finanzas como las armas las que han decidido los destinos de las naciones en la gran prueba de la guerra. Todavia hoy nuestras vidas estan dominadas por instituciones originadas en tiempos de guerra: el impuesto sobre la renta, los parlamentos, las deudas nacionales, los bancos centrales e incluso las bolsas. El poder politico puede estar mas vinculado a la financiacion de las campanas que a la prosperidad del periodo pre-electoral; pero deberiamos invertir mas, y no menos, en le proceso democratico. La globalizacion financiera sin una autoridad imperial definida puede ser demasiado inestable; en comparacion con las superpotencias del pasado, Estado Unidos esta negandose a asumir sus responsabilidades internacionales. Las burbujas y las crisis financieras pueden ser presagios de una crisis mas profunda que podria detener el avance de la democracia y el capitalismo. Esta obra constituye una sintesis audaz de la historia politica y de la teoria economica moderna que presenta conclusiones desafiantes e inquietantes sobre el futuro del capitalismo y de la democracia.

Ever since the house of Rothschild first rose to pre-eminence in the turbulent era of the Napoleonic wars, mythology has surrounded the family and its firms. Conservative aristocrats, radical democrats, socialists from Marx onwards, anti-semites from Wagner to Hitler - all have reserved a special place in their critiques of modern capitalism for the Rothschilds. They have been portrayed as the power behind not just one throne but many. They have been charged with financing revolutions and counter-revolutions. They have been seen as the final arbiters of war and peace in Europe. This book is the first of two volumes presenting a history of the house of Rothschild that reveals the phenomenal economic success of this secretive family.

Few economic events have had the impact of German hyperinflation in 1923, still remembered as a root cause of Hitler's rise to power; yet in recent years historians have defended the inflationary policies adopted after 1918. Niall Ferguson takes a different view. He argues that inflation was an economic and political disaster, and that alternative economic policies could have stabilized the German currency in 1920. To explain why these were not adopted, he points to long-term defects in the political institutions of the Reich from the 1890s. The book therefore not only reveals the Wilhelmine origins of Weimar's failure: it also casts new light on the origins of the Third Reich.