Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing
- Downloads：1899
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-02-28 04:11:32
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jacob Goldstein
- ISBN：031641719X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Brendan Hughes
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I didn't finish this book。While many would probably disagree， the writing style was way too casual for my personal taste。 There were also various errors along the way。 I don't think there was much of a focus as to the formatting of the book。 There are some things that can be learned from this book as it relates to a look back on history， but I would recommend double checking some of the data in here。 I didn't finish this book。While many would probably disagree， the writing style was way too casual for my personal taste。 There were also various errors along the way。 I don't think there was much of a focus as to the formatting of the book。 There are some things that can be learned from this book as it relates to a look back on history， but I would recommend double checking some of the data in here。 。。。more
Cassie
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A very good introduction to the world of money， finance， and world history。 Easy to read， but you need to close attention to names and dates， as there is a lot of back and forth between places and time， to paint a full picture of what happened between the historical and modern use of money。
Dhruv Saggar
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Goldstein's book was interesting in many areas （the rise of money in society and the evolution of different monetary policies， to name two）， but ultimately felt short and disjointed。 I reached the end of the book quite disappointed that it ended， not because the book was amazing， but because it felt like it was missing the thread that keeps it all together。 Goldstein's book was interesting in many areas （the rise of money in society and the evolution of different monetary policies， to name two）， but ultimately felt short and disjointed。 I reached the end of the book quite disappointed that it ended， not because the book was amazing， but because it felt like it was missing the thread that keeps it all together。 。。。more
Elizabeth Ferreira
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I liked this book so much more than I thought I did。 As an Econ lover and major， I assumed I would know most of the stories this book told。 It ended up being nearly none。 While listening to the audiobook my boyfriend and I would say “what？！ That’s so cool” multiple times a chapter。
Katie Booth
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Highly readable and well researched。 This is a book I'll come back to read again for sure。 Highly readable and well researched。 This is a book I'll come back to read again for sure。 。。。more
Riley
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Came for the interesting history， stayed for the economic curiosity。
Andrew Penning
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I've tried to figure out a few times what the hell mining bitcoin is。 Now I know。 I've tried to figure out a few times what the hell mining bitcoin is。 Now I know。 。。。more
Phil Kazmier
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Great explanation of the origin and evolution of money from barter to cryptocurrency
Michael Maloff
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A fun read。 The Planet Money team never lets you down。
Adele C
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I'm not a big fan of pop history in general， but appreciated the chapters of this book that covered the early origins and evolution of money。 The contemporary chapters read more like isolated magazine articles attempting to distill the popular discourse on things like the financial crisis， bitcoin， the eurozone， etc。 Overall， I was irritated by the chatty writing style， the author's tendency to present their own opinions about much-debated ideas as "just the facts"， and the simplistic discussion I'm not a big fan of pop history in general， but appreciated the chapters of this book that covered the early origins and evolution of money。 The contemporary chapters read more like isolated magazine articles attempting to distill the popular discourse on things like the financial crisis， bitcoin， the eurozone， etc。 Overall， I was irritated by the chatty writing style， the author's tendency to present their own opinions about much-debated ideas as "just the facts"， and the simplistic discussion of society as "the rich" and then everyone else。 。。。more
Kristine Latta
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Goldstein takes the reader through thousands of years of the history of money in a surprisingly short， entertaining book。 For fans of Planet Money， the tone will be familiar: very complex ideas， straightforward presentation， with clever side comments here and there。 There were places I would have appreciated a deeper dive， particularly as he covered contemporary monetary policy。 But overall worth the read if you have any interest in how our economy works。
Joanne Novak
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This is an excellent book。 It is informative in a fun way—-just like “planet money” and it’s entertaining format。 Well done。 Well written。 Interest for a history person like me。
Sophia Z
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TIL money is truly a made up thing。 It’s a wild ride and I’ll never look at it in the same again。
Joe Kessler
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Another podcast turned pop science book， this one offering a whirlwind tour of the history of money as a concept， from its earliest known appearance in ancient civilizations through today's cutting-edge developments of cryptocurrency and MMT。 Author Jacob Goldstein clearly knows his material， but he tends to breeze through it a bit too quickly for a reader like me who has difficulty with some of these abstract （and at times counterintuitive） economic theories。 Although I've learned a few things Another podcast turned pop science book， this one offering a whirlwind tour of the history of money as a concept， from its earliest known appearance in ancient civilizations through today's cutting-edge developments of cryptocurrency and MMT。 Author Jacob Goldstein clearly knows his material， but he tends to breeze through it a bit too quickly for a reader like me who has difficulty with some of these abstract （and at times counterintuitive） economic theories。 Although I've learned a few things from this title， it's generally lacking the level of detail and patient explanation that I at least would require for all of its lessons to really sink in。Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter 。。。more
Danielle
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Fine but felt more like short anecdotes than a well researched history。 A bit shallow， without an overarching purpose。 Pleasant enough to read。
Karen Throckmorton
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Entertaining。 Pertinent。 Easy to read。 Traces the evolution of currency over the centuries highlighting a few time periods。 Excellent stories。 Genghis Khan。 17th century Amsterdam。 Scottish 17th century John Law who figured out mathematical probability and rose to phenomenal power in France。 The Gold standard。 The impact of the light bulb。 Bitcoin。 All enjoyable and easy to understand。
Eric Christenson
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Everyone has opinions about money; but most don’t have a clue how it works。 Jacob Goldstein does a fabulous job and explaining the history， current state， and future of money in an engaging， witty， and informative way。
Amirmansour Khanmohammad
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It’s Money， If Everyone Believes It’s Money。
Sharron
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Informative and entertaining。 Well worth reading。
Andrew
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A quick and readable book， which explains the history of 'money' - from ancient marks on clay pots to today's bitcoin - in a conversational and non-technical way。 A quick and readable book， which explains the history of 'money' - from ancient marks on clay pots to today's bitcoin - in a conversational and non-technical way。 。。。more
anklecemetery
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Really engaging and enjoyable history of money as a concept， as well as the structures that have made it work （or not）。
Patrick Burell
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This book goes on the list of “things every person over 18 should be required to read” and “things they should have taught me in school”。 The book is an incredible overview of the history of money as an object， money as an idea， and a lot of the problems that money has created from the time of the Babylonians to 2020。 An incredible task that Goldstein accomplishes with ease。
Kristen
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Easy to read overview of the history of money and finance。 Answers basic questions in an entertaining way。
Neal Harris
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A fun， fast read。 You definitely don't need a finance or economics background to enjoy this book。 Goldstein writes in a colloquial style， and does a nice job of humanizing everything。 The book centers around the idea that money is social， and so is mostly about how people have innovated over our existence with tools that we eventually think of as money。The book doesn't get very deep in any of the stories that it touches。 But if you're looking for a good first book to read about Money， I think yo A fun， fast read。 You definitely don't need a finance or economics background to enjoy this book。 Goldstein writes in a colloquial style， and does a nice job of humanizing everything。 The book centers around the idea that money is social， and so is mostly about how people have innovated over our existence with tools that we eventually think of as money。The book doesn't get very deep in any of the stories that it touches。 But if you're looking for a good first book to read about Money， I think you could do much worse than this one。 。。。more
Trevar Moore
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Great book， blew through it in 3 days。 It was a lot like a Planet Money podcast， interesting and most importantly understandable。
Al
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I found the first half or so quite boring because -- and I know I keep repeating this -- Debt: The First 5，000 Years。 What can I say， that book covered a lot， and completely changed how I see money。 The second half though -- money market mutual funds， the financial crisis， the Euro， MMT， and Bitcoin -- was super fascinating！
Eli
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Goldstein takes a technical subject and makes it easy to understand and interesting。 Great read！
Kirsti
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Quirky yet informative explanation of how money is based on trust and why money has changed over millennia。 This is very similar to the author's reported pieces on NPR's Planet Money。 There's not really an overarching structure to it， which I know some reviewers have complained about， but that didn't bother me at all。 I would not recommend this to someone who has a degree in economics， but it's great for the rest of us。 Quirky yet informative explanation of how money is based on trust and why money has changed over millennia。 This is very similar to the author's reported pieces on NPR's Planet Money。 There's not really an overarching structure to it， which I know some reviewers have complained about， but that didn't bother me at all。 I would not recommend this to someone who has a degree in economics， but it's great for the rest of us。 。。。more
Tie Kim
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Excellent investment of time。 Thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the story of money and what makes it 'currency'。 The book was educational and relatable through the intriguing anecdotes and analyses。 The figures of John Law， Nicholas Biddle， Edward Ludd （origins of the word "Luddite"）， Irving Fisher and others will forever be etched in your mind。 Excellent investment of time。 Thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the story of money and what makes it 'currency'。 The book was educational and relatable through the intriguing anecdotes and analyses。 The figures of John Law， Nicholas Biddle， Edward Ludd （origins of the word "Luddite"）， Irving Fisher and others will forever be etched in your mind。 。。。more
Cabe
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