Widely read:
No matter how much you think you know about money, Vivek Kaul's book 'Easy Money' will tell you a whole lot more. From the prehistoric barter systems that eventually evolved into something like money to the beginnings of the global financial system between the two world wars, this immensely readable 278-page history of money doesn't have a dull moment.
To those of us who have a (probably well-founded) impression that history is dull and boring, 'Easy Money' will come as a surprise. Kaul--who also writes for Wealth Insight--is a wonderful writer who has a knack for covering all the facts rigorously, complete with full references in footnotes, and still making everything so interesting and easy to read that it's difficult to stop reading.
A great thing about this book is that it's a story and not a mere collection of anecdotes. Most of us who are interested in savings or investments are aware of some random aspects of the story of money. We all know about barter systems, some of us know that paper money was invented in China or have heard of Rothschild used to finance European wars or the Gold standard. Kaul not only weaves all this into a logical story where one step in the evolution of money leads to the next, but makes us see how it all leads to what we see around us in today's monetary system.
When he tells us of the massive monetary expansion that the first paper money issuing government-that of Kubla Khan in 13th century China-undertook, we realise that a Ben Bernanke or a P Chidambaram are simply repeating a trick that governments discovered as soon as they first thought up fiat money. In fact, we have now advanced way beyond what happened at the time-Kaul points out that the Chinese expanded money supply by 140 times in the 55 years from 1275 to 1330. That's nothing compared to the 1,600 times that the Government of India has managed in the last 55 years! In fact, the best thing about the book is that it makes us aware of the main thrust of money's history.
What started as something rooted in physical value has constantly been debased and devalued by bankers and governments. Ordinary people who use money as a utility, a store of value, need it to be as real as possible while bankers and governments want it to be something ephemeral that they can create and transform at will. And this book is a story of how ordinary people lost and the bankers and the governments won.
This is the first book in a three part series. Although it is sub-titled 'Evolution of Money from Robinson Crusoe to the First World War', it does tell of money's history long before the the 18th century when Robinson Crusoe was written. In the books to follow, it'll be interesting to read Kaul's account of the recent financial crisis as well as the new crypto-currencies like Bitcoin that have challenged the very notion of how people use currency.
'Easy Money' is a highly recommended read for everyone.
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