Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Graeber's "Debt" raises questions about the received wisdom of economics. When did we all become entrapped in debt and financial obligation? Why are the standards of debt different for the wealthy than for the poor? "Debt" does an amazing job of laying bare the inconsistencies and contradictions of our economic system.

Grover Gardner does a great job of conveying the emotional content of an intellectual argument. Proficient reading of non-fiction is about drawing the listener into the argument, which means understanding the argument and following the rhetorical rhythms. Gardner does an amazing job!

Debt is not a permanent condition nor is it necessarily a moral failing. With all of us in debt, this knowledge is uplifting!

I wish there were more books from the modern anthropological literature available as audio books!

The author takes the reader on a trip around the world and throughout history to examine the roll of debt in human society. From the Sumeria to Ming Dynasty China and Adam Smith this book looks at how debt shapes human relationships and how the commoditization of those contracts has broken the very human bonds we form with one another.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the WorldNiall Ferguson (Author)

A very interesting angle on how debt developed, where money come from and many more. Despite many references, this is not a book on archeology. Many of author's remarks in history and discovery of ancient civilizations make the book so much more worthwhile as well as trustworthy.
great read, highly recommended

While I think this book could be interesting, and indeed I enjoyed some parts of it, I think the author fails to capture reader's attention with a clear line of events. He kind of like jumps from one epoch to another without explaining what does it all mean and how it correlates with his point of view. He also quotes a lot of sources which he then denounces, so especially while you are listening to the book, not reading it, it is hard to tell what the author actually thinks about the subject.

The overall problem with the book, I believe, is that an author is an anthropologist and he's trying to get into the field of economics. I don't mean just his reasoning, which might be flawed - this should be left for economists to judge - but the way he tells the story: he's elaborating on some of the historical/cultural things too much and you just can't see what he was trying to say in the first place. Probably the reason I couldn't really finish the book.

The narration is very good, although at some point I stumbled at a clearly "editorial" piece not supposed to be heard by the audience - the narrator was reading his remarks on the text. I guess you could call it a "bug". It was for a couple of minutes though.

Lots of great info, but some chapters take forever to get through...

A much better understanding of what money actually is.

Debt is a magnificent intellectual history of debt. It clearly disassociates many of the myths common in society about the nature and history of debt. Challenging the predominate default view of capitalism, Graeber provides many good examples of how the state, capitalism, war, and money have interwoven over time to produce modern problems in society. While the book was well sourced and convincing, the author did occasionally dip into political issues, even specific individuals, with really no apparent relation to the core content. Absent this, the book would have received an easy 5 out of 5.

While I am all too familiar with the experience of being in debt, I had no idea that the history of debt was so rich and varied. He presented the concept of debt and then showed how it changed over time while both reflecting and influencing politics, the military, and social order.

This is one of those books that will change the way you view history. There are wonderful insights here and an immense span of history is presented with clarity and humor.

I particularly enjoyed learning about the way cultures have gone back and forth between systems that relied on barter and coinage. There is a fascinating relationship between slavery, mining, and a financial system that relied on coins. Brilliant.

Very steady and listenable. Just the right presentation.

That the middle ages were more diverse than I expected and that they were a factor in India as well.

This is a long book, but the thoroughness with which the author presents his subject is wonderful. It never gets tedious and every chapter presents something new that I had never considered before. Well worth the time.

The book tries to link communism with family and capitalism with greed. However he does correctly show that in the past mixing the two systems leads to violence. He fails to recognize that loving bond are essential to communism. for in it the strong must choose to give to the weak. Outside of the family this wouldn't happen due to the 150 rule in sociology, but through force, coercion and violence. Which he describes showing examples in history of our struggle to build a fair capitalist society build on choice. Altho the book intent seemed to be to show the need to ban debtors prisons and a call for bankruptcy for poor nations which I do agree with. This is how a healthy capitalist system runs.

In my view understand that communism is for families and friends whereas capitalism is for strangers and nations. Swapping or mixing these systems can lead to emotional and sometimes violent unintended consequences.

No every opinion needs to be hear but also refuted.

adequate.

no

You must read this book.

It's simply one of the most useful books I've ever read, and well written to boot.

That it focuses on very broad range of time and space.

THat every interaction has some form of debt inside if you dig deep enough.The least entertaining parts was sometimes too much details about customs in some cultures.

THE NARRATOR :D

Anthropology is much more interesting than i thought.