Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
    Unavailable
    The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
    Unavailable
    The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession
    Ebook653 pages10 hours

    The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession

    By Peter L. Bernstein and Paul A. Volcker

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "The need for realism in reform of its monetary system is what makes Bernstein’s story of the Power of Gold so timely. It is a compelling reminder that maintaining a fixed price for gold and fixed exchange rates were difficult even in a simpler financial environment….Peter Bernstein was reluctant to project the story of gold into the future. But to me his message was clear. Yes, gold will be with us, valued not only for its intrinsic qualities but as a last refuge and store of value in turbulent times. But its days as money, as a means of payment and a fixed unit of account are gone."
    —From the New Foreword by Paul Volcker

    This bestselling book reveals a record of human nature in the ubiquity of gold with a new foreword by Paul Volcker

    In this exciting book, the late Peter L. Bernstein tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. And while the same cycle of obsession and desperation may reverberate in today's fast-moving, electronically-driven markets, the role of gold in shaping human history is the striking feature of this tumultuous tale. Such is the power of gold.

    Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs with depraved tastes, the luxury-mad survivors of the Black Death, the Chinese inventor of paper money, the pirates on the Spanish Main, or the hardnosed believers in the international gold standard, gold has been the supreme possession. It has been an icon for greed and an emblem of rectitude, as well as a vehicle for vanity and a badge of power that has shaped the destiny of humanity through the ages.

    • Discusses the beginnings of gold as something with magical, religious, and artistic qualities and follows its trail as we progress to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money, and the gold standard
    • Other bestselling books by the late Peter Bernstein: Against the Gods, Capital Ideas, and Capital Ideas Evolving
    • Contemplates gold from the diverse perspectives of monarchs and moneyers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings

    Far more than a tale of romantic myths, daring explorations, and the history of money and power struggles, The Power of Gold suggests that the true significance of this infamous element may lie in the timeless passions it continues to evoke, and what this reveals about ourselves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWiley
    Release dateMar 12, 2012
    ISBN9781118282694
    Unavailable
    The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession

    Read more from Peter L. Bernstein

    Related to The Power of Gold

    Related ebooks

    Finance & Money Management For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Gold Standard

      May 1, 2019

      The Gold Standard
      2 min read

    • Article

      Inflate Or Die

      Dec 24, 2021

      Inflate Or Die
      2 min read

    • Article

      Is Another IMF Gold Sale Fiasco in the Works?

      Jul 2, 2021

      Last Friday, June 11, French President Macron made a proposal at the G-7 meeting that member nations of this group each contribute gold to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The stated purpose of this action was to fund greater aid to African nat

      6 min read

    • Article

      Life Imitates Farce In Cryptoland

      Nov 12, 2021

      The popularity of Shiba Inu coin, a cryptocurrency which was launched as a joke version of Dogecoin – itself a joke cryptocurrency, or “memecoin” – is now encouraging crypto owners to buy the Japanese hunting dog breed (pictured) the coin is named af

      1 min read

    • Article

      Stock Market Today: Tech Rallies, Nasdaq Just Shy of New Highs

      Jun 17, 2021

      The Nasdaq Composite pressed higher Thursday, to within just a few points of a fresh closing record, flipping the script on how the technology-heavy index has acted for much of 2021. The Federal Reserve yesterday revealed higher expectations for infl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Book In The News… The Wild Adventurers Who Put The Sugar In Your Tea

      Oct 15, 2021

      Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources Javier Blas and Jack Farchy Random House Business, £20 Most of us don’t pause to consider how the tea or sugar in our morning cuppa got into our mug, as the raw materials that make ou

      1 min read

    • Article

      Invest Like A Pro

      Aug 8, 2019

      Invest Like A Pro
      2 min read

    • Article

      Why the Flash Crash Really Matters: The debate about what caused the 2010 stock market Flash Crash is missing the point.

      Apr 23, 2015

      At about 2:30pm on May 6, 2010, an asset management firm began executing a series of orders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Located in Overland Park, Kansas, Waddell & Reed was (and is) one of the oldest mutual fund companies in America. It follo

      8 min read

    • Article

      Build The Perfect Portfolio

      Mar 31, 2021

      Build The Perfect Portfolio
      5 min read

    • Article

      Keeping Time For Generations

      Oct 1, 2018

      Keeping Time For Generations
      4 min read

    • Article

      With the Market at Its Peak, Should You Wait to Invest?

      Sep 19, 2018

      Let's say you have some cash you want to invest for the long term. You know how important it is to get that money in the market so it can grow and earn compound returns -- but when do you invest it? The answer lies in this fact: It's about time in t

      5 min read

    • Article

      How To Play The Value Card

      Sep 30, 2020

      One of the raging debates in financial markets at the moment is about value versus growth stocks. The value strategy was made famous by the celebrated US investor Warren Buffett. The core premise behind value investing is buying an asset at a discoun

      2 min read

    • Article

      Stay In Safety Mode

      Jan 5, 2024

      Stay In Safety Mode
      2 min read

    • Article

      Allocating And Maintaining Your Investment Capital

      Dec 18, 2020

      the key feature of a long-term portfolio is which assets you hold in it. But there are other considerations that you must also stay on top of. Firstly, how do you split the portfolio between passively and actively managed assets? I always advocate th

      2 min read

    • Article

      How To Spot A Financial Bubble

      Oct 2, 2020

      one of the most influential mathematicians of all time, Sir Isaac Newton, lost a fortune by investing in the South Sea Bubble of 1720. When asked why, with all his mathematical prowess, he could not foresee the collapse of the stock, he is reputed to

      3 min read

    • Article

      The US Dollar Bounces Back

      Sep 15, 2023

      The US Dollar Bounces Back
      2 min read

    • Article

      What Is A Boardwalk Flan?

      Jan 27, 2020

      What percentage of ancient coins being sold are from older collections and how many of them are from recent discoveries? There are no hard statistics on this, however, it appears that prior to 1975 it is likely about 70 percent of the available anci

      2 min read

    Reviews for The Power of Gold

    4/5

    6 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      Simply put, this book is full of propaganda. Gold, a commodity, will always be used as money because of its properties. What will actually never be money is the fiat currency the "government" has monopolized and forced the general population to use. For a factual understanding of what money actually is read Murray Rothbard's essay, What has government done to our money?.
    • 5/5
      It is about what everyone has to know!
      It is an important part of world history.
    • 4/5
      A fairly interesting book, although it does ramble off topic at times. Still, probably one of the better financial histories I've ever read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      history of gold? impossible! much better than Greenback - history of US dollar.covers ancient gold fever, gold standard with textbook clarity, dollarization i think, a few more tidbits. concludes (if i remember) that gold is temporarily reduced to pure commodity, (no apps but aesthetic and computer components). history of risk was cool