End of Alchemy
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- Create Date：2021-04-19 14:52:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Mervyn A. King
- ISBN：0349140677
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Reviews
Erick Rosas
，
When I read， I start very slowly。 Especially with non-fiction。 It is like moving to a new country every time， so I seem to drift in adapting to the specific language of the author。 It was the same with this book， which saw me two years stuck on page 30， and took about two months once I managed to read at a decent pace。Once I settled in this "country"， boy was it worth it。 Mervyn King writes what looks to be two books in one。 One， brilliantly exposed and comprising the majority of the text， descr When I read， I start very slowly。 Especially with non-fiction。 It is like moving to a new country every time， so I seem to drift in adapting to the specific language of the author。 It was the same with this book， which saw me two years stuck on page 30， and took about two months once I managed to read at a decent pace。Once I settled in this "country"， boy was it worth it。 Mervyn King writes what looks to be two books in one。 One， brilliantly exposed and comprising the majority of the text， describes the global contradictions in our money and banking system， which led us to the financial crisis of 2008-09。 Such disequilibriums have not yet been solved。 Two， the policy recipe to get out of this jam。 As a lot of economics papers， the policy recommendation section does not follow from the analysis containing the meat of the argument。 He recommends –surprisingly， given the relative heterodoxy of his main reasoning– more trade and exchange rate liberalization， as well as the fostering of productivity growth。 Alas， nothing new。At its best， however， the "first" book made me realize the importance of narrative –of story- in the ideas that underpin the social sciences and thus the policies we believe in and that influence political and economic outcomes which are vital to our wellbeing。 I believe the relevance of the use of analogies and metaphors in explaining and creating economic theory is not fully salient to its practitioners。 The title of the book is a metaphor， and one that really is a central part of the argument too: banks create money by converting short-term safe liabilities （deposits） into long-term risky assets （loans）。 And believing that is as sound as believing in alchemy， in the illusion of liquidity。 When you start to think about it， the systems that support our society are also narrative in their nature。 Money is also a story （"Accept this piece of paper and you will be able to buy stuff"）， and believing in it is fundamental for it to function。 That is why I think this is a great book， and I recommend it to anyone interested in this topics。 Despite its technicalities it is an awesome read。 Give it time。P。D。 There are a lot of Keynes quotes on this。 He is truly brilliant and his use of rhetorical figures is， and will be， undefeated。 。。。more
Toan Ho Huu
，
Giấy không thể biến thành vàng， và thuật giả kim thời trung cổ đã bị chứng minh đa phần chỉ là trò lừa đảo không hơn không kém。 Ấy thế mà suốt một thời gian dài， hệ thống tiền tệ và tài chính của con người đã lấy đó làm nền tảng: biến giấy （tiền） thành vàng。
Aleksandra KW
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My old colleague recommended reading this book when it came out。 I have only read it now。 Hard to say anything else but ‘genius’。 It is about the nature of financial alchemy， so touching on so many subjects you would have seen/heard about over the years: the Keynesian/neoclassical schools of thoughts， the actual prelude to the financial crisis of ‘08 （ever-increasing trade deficit in the 90s in the West， leading to the society amassing debt， followed by prisoner’s dilemma of the central banks on My old colleague recommended reading this book when it came out。 I have only read it now。 Hard to say anything else but ‘genius’。 It is about the nature of financial alchemy， so touching on so many subjects you would have seen/heard about over the years: the Keynesian/neoclassical schools of thoughts， the actual prelude to the financial crisis of ‘08 （ever-increasing trade deficit in the 90s in the West， leading to the society amassing debt， followed by prisoner’s dilemma of the central banks on what level of interest rates would be sufficient to stimulate the economy）， the thoughts for next crises （think twice about the short-term measures to keep the market confidence。。。not sure where this leaves the fiscal stimulus on the back of the pandemic these days）。A lot to read， think through and digest， but well worth investing the time。 。。。more
Nader Saeed
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The book offers a deep analysis of the troubles of the existing economic systems， with fewer solutions than I'd expected from a man of King's experience。Although he asserts in the book's introduction that the book is "Aimed at the reader with no formal training in economics" I didn't find this to be true。 Some paragraphs took me some googling to decipher， the upside is that I learned a thing or two in the process。 The book offers a deep analysis of the troubles of the existing economic systems， with fewer solutions than I'd expected from a man of King's experience。Although he asserts in the book's introduction that the book is "Aimed at the reader with no formal training in economics" I didn't find this to be true。 Some paragraphs took me some googling to decipher， the upside is that I learned a thing or two in the process。 。。。more
george grace
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Must ReadIf you want an understanding of macro economics and banking from a Theoretical and practical standpoint， this is The Book。
Daniel
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An excellent book that demystifys the banking world and the great recession。 Filled with ground-breaking new ideas of which policy makers should take heed。
John
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Mervyn King was governor at the Bank of England during the 2005 financial crisis。 This book written in 2016， after his retirement， deals with complex issues in a simple way， is readable for an economics text and vaguely worrying for example there is， according to this， a complete absence of safe AAA investments suitable for widows and orphans which can match the intentional 2% yearly rise in prices that central banks want to see。 I read this while watching the classic film on community banking " Mervyn King was governor at the Bank of England during the 2005 financial crisis。 This book written in 2016， after his retirement， deals with complex issues in a simple way， is readable for an economics text and vaguely worrying for example there is， according to this， a complete absence of safe AAA investments suitable for widows and orphans which can match the intentional 2% yearly rise in prices that central banks want to see。 I read this while watching the classic film on community banking "It's a wonderful life"。 The contrast was most revealing。 。。。more
Shawn
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4。5 rounded up
Thomas Ernst
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Former head of the UK version of the Federal Reserve writes a very good read on money and banking that you can understand
Lisett
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One interesting idea wrapped up in 200+ pages of reiterating basic stuff， like what is money， what are derivatives， and what happened to Long Term Capital Management。 Great as an intro book to the financial crisis; but if you've studied economics or read on the topic before， skip straight to chapter 7。 One interesting idea wrapped up in 200+ pages of reiterating basic stuff， like what is money， what are derivatives， and what happened to Long Term Capital Management。 Great as an intro book to the financial crisis; but if you've studied economics or read on the topic before， skip straight to chapter 7。 。。。more
Josef
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The subject matter is dense and heavy for a lay reader; Mr。 King exercised admirable restraint in technical presentation， the only reason I made it through to the end without a sports injury。 It must have been painful to dumb it down so far I could understand it。 Mostly。It's worth the effort though。 The man sacrificed professional subject matter fidelity to reach the lay person。That， and also it's interesting to observe how little very important people actually understand about the very importan The subject matter is dense and heavy for a lay reader; Mr。 King exercised admirable restraint in technical presentation， the only reason I made it through to the end without a sports injury。 It must have been painful to dumb it down so far I could understand it。 Mostly。It's worth the effort though。 The man sacrificed professional subject matter fidelity to reach the lay person。That， and also it's interesting to observe how little very important people actually understand about the very important matters they are tasked with。 Central bankers in general; Mr。 King certainly appears to be one of the wiser amongst the blind。If you have a difficult book to read， read this first and your difficult book will come more easily。 。。。more
Warren Mcpherson
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I love the chapter heading "The Audacity of Pessimism。"This book is a solid review of factors that relate to the banking crisis of 2008。 The connection to macroeconomics was insightful。 I found the book a bit dry。 But good ideas about uncertainty， disequilibrium， and game theory were analyzed。One memorable example illustrating probability and perception seems very similar to an example I remember from Taleb's 2001 book。 This time around it didn't seem as clever， but it still makes a good point。T I love the chapter heading "The Audacity of Pessimism。"This book is a solid review of factors that relate to the banking crisis of 2008。 The connection to macroeconomics was insightful。 I found the book a bit dry。 But good ideas about uncertainty， disequilibrium， and game theory were analyzed。One memorable example illustrating probability and perception seems very similar to an example I remember from Taleb's 2001 book。 This time around it didn't seem as clever， but it still makes a good point。The author claims he didn't want to engage in recriminations。 He gives a pass to bank executives while blaming their employees for fixing markets。The book does effectively advocate for structural control of leverage。 It focuses on coping behavior over optimizing behavior in face of radical uncertainty。 The application of the prisoner's dilemma is interesting， as is the discussion of Keynes's ideas。The European "extend and pretend" approach to greek debt was properly lambasted。 The author recalled an earlier example of postponing repayment of external German debt until the debtor country had a surplus and capping payment to a small proportion of surplus。 I wish the book was better written so that more people would be exposed to this argument。The book closes with recommendations like boosting expected future incomes through a program to raise future productivity and concerns about the prisoner's dilemma constraining the effectiveness of central bank policy。 These ideas seem reasonable enough but a bit abstract and I suspect the impact of this volume will be pretty limited。 。。。more
Ross
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Stop what you are doing and read this book。
David Niose
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Ambitious book that covers a lot of territory — several different aspects of banking， monetary policy， international trade， big global economic issues， and much more。 King does a good job providing an overview of how banking works and the role of central banks in particular。 He also provides suggestions on how to improve the system to hopefully avoid future financial crises。 The book is intended for readers with no formal training in economics， but King， the former governor of the Bank of Englan Ambitious book that covers a lot of territory — several different aspects of banking， monetary policy， international trade， big global economic issues， and much more。 King does a good job providing an overview of how banking works and the role of central banks in particular。 He also provides suggestions on how to improve the system to hopefully avoid future financial crises。 The book is intended for readers with no formal training in economics， but King， the former governor of the Bank of England， doesn’t spend much time explaining the basis for many of his ideas and assumptions。 Readers are just repeatedly expected to accept the doing A will result in B， and that B will then cause C to happen， etc。 That’s fine in some contexts （i。e。， lowering interest rates will result in stock prices rising） but not in all。 A non-economist can only accept King’s conclusions by accepting the numerous unexplained assumptions upon which the conclusions are based。 In reading the book， the framework that dominates the thinking of central bankers like King becomes clear — growth and inflation are the two big obsessions。 So much energy is constantly focused on these issues that one wonders what might happen if policymakers took a bigger view， if for example other yardsticks of economic success （how about a quality-of-life index？） would be worth considering。 Numerous authors， myself included， have critiqued the tendency of overemphasizing GDP， and it would be refreshing to see numbers guys like King start to look at other， human-centered yardsticks。It was also puzzling to me that King seemed to believe that the 2008 financial crisis had little to do with malfeasance and negligence within the financial industry。 The financial crisis is a frequent subject within the book， but the wrongdoing of bankers gets only a very brief mention， quick lip service and nothing else。 All in all， an interesting book that made me see some economic issues from a different perspective and better appreciate the role of central bankers and monetary policy。 。。。more
Oolalaa
，
18/20
Dennis Normile
，
Mervyn King was a policymaker in the United Kingdom during the Financial Crisis。 Here he crafts a very well thought out， if sometimes hard to follow， assessment of the permanent instability of our current banking system。 The author is one of the rarest of breeds， neither a gold bug， crypto-enthusiast， or defender of the status quo。 He instead goes into great lengths to help us understand the twisted mesh of policies， unintended consequences， and the misunderstood nature of money itself and how t Mervyn King was a policymaker in the United Kingdom during the Financial Crisis。 Here he crafts a very well thought out， if sometimes hard to follow， assessment of the permanent instability of our current banking system。 The author is one of the rarest of breeds， neither a gold bug， crypto-enthusiast， or defender of the status quo。 He instead goes into great lengths to help us understand the twisted mesh of policies， unintended consequences， and the misunderstood nature of money itself and how these things create a toxic cocktail that make future financial crises inevitable， severe， and frequent。 I find it particularly interesting to see a senior policy maker admit the permanent structural flaws in the global banking system， as its critics are usually populists of one stripe or another。 This is a great read for anyone that cares deeply about financial crises， anyone curious about what money really is， or students of economics willing to look beyond the well beaten paths of Keynes or monetarists。 。。。more
Jesthefez2004yahoo。Co。Uk
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"Don't blame us bankers - no one can know the future。。。" is the strong thesis of this tome。 If you were looking for King to point the finger or name names， you'll be mistaken。 King is a little more unreserved when it comes to the EU - political union should come before monetary union - even its founders break all sorts of rules as （and when） it suits them。 Rules of entry into the euro zone were ignored; many members' liquidity， solvency and assets were works of fiction。 So long as this decrepit "Don't blame us bankers - no one can know the future。。。" is the strong thesis of this tome。 If you were looking for King to point the finger or name names， you'll be mistaken。 King is a little more unreserved when it comes to the EU - political union should come before monetary union - even its founders break all sorts of rules as （and when） it suits them。 Rules of entry into the euro zone were ignored; many members' liquidity， solvency and assets were works of fiction。 So long as this decrepit system is supported by banks "too large to fail" we bumble on in peril。 。 。 。。。more
Dan
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A great discussion on the current central banking system and the creation and use of money。 Interesting to read about King's propositions for a more stable monetary future。 A great discussion on the current central banking system and the creation and use of money。 Interesting to read about King's propositions for a more stable monetary future。 。。。more
J。 T。
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Starts off wellStarts off really well but gets bogged down in the second half before ending rather abruptly。 He doesn't really offer convincing answers to the question behind the title of the book。 Starts off wellStarts off really well but gets bogged down in the second half before ending rather abruptly。 He doesn't really offer convincing answers to the question behind the title of the book。 。。。more
Raumil Suthar
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A central banker's perspective on the financial crisis of 2008-09。 Also dwells upon the reforms that are needed in banking， the role of money from historical point of view and the role of trade in the disequilibrium in the world economy。 A central banker's perspective on the financial crisis of 2008-09。 Also dwells upon the reforms that are needed in banking， the role of money from historical point of view and the role of trade in the disequilibrium in the world economy。 。。。more
Sean Brenon
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In my opinion， this should be the definitive book on the 2008 financial crisis。 Unlike， say， Lewis’ The Big Short， Mervyn King doesn’t solely lay the blame on investment banks。 In fact， to me， that whole idea is such a narrow， anti-capitalist view that completely misunderstands the complexity of central banking。 At least， in my reading here， King seems to agree。 If King — ex-head of Britain’s central banking system — is to be believed， the Chinese knew we were screwed long before America did。 Th In my opinion， this should be the definitive book on the 2008 financial crisis。 Unlike， say， Lewis’ The Big Short， Mervyn King doesn’t solely lay the blame on investment banks。 In fact， to me， that whole idea is such a narrow， anti-capitalist view that completely misunderstands the complexity of central banking。 At least， in my reading here， King seems to agree。 If King — ex-head of Britain’s central banking system — is to be believed， the Chinese knew we were screwed long before America did。 This is due， in large part， to the financial burden that the Fed placed on local and investment banks。The argument that King lays out is long and complex。 I’d be lying if I said I could remember the whole thing。 But his insider knowledge of central banking gives him an authority rarely seen in politically motivated books like these。 King is not politically motivated here。I don’t agree with King’s solutions here， but I also think he’s the only one talking about solutions。 He was ahead of the curve in predicting another financial disaster， a trend that， since Trump took office， has attracted a lot of politically motivated doomsayers。I’d give this five stars except that it’s not at all accessible。 It took me ages to read through this because I’m not an economist and I don’t have a degree in macroeconomics。 I spent as much time researching his terms as I did reading the book。 While I begrudgingly enjoyed that experience in hindsight， it was also tedious。 Unless you really want to spend your time with this book， I don’t recommend it。 But those willing to power through its complexity and difficulty will find their understanding of central banking and the 2008 crises enriched。 。。。more
Carlos Salazar
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A good book to know more about the financial system and specifically about causes of the 2007-2009 financial crisis。 I attended multiple courses about economics during my undergrad and master degrees， and still found value in this book written by the former head of the bank of England。
ABG。 ZAMARI ABG。 NAZARIN
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Interesting Perspectives。。。 valid points。 good to read and ideas worth exploring further。 the author has a strong grasp of the critical issues in finance and economics
Ryan Bergen
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In “The End of Alchemy” Mervyn King offers a detailed analysis of the crisis and prudent ideas for prevention。 While this book oftentimes feels more like a textbook and some of the chapters can get quite dry， the ideas and analysis within were enough to maintain my interest throughout。 I would only recommend this book if you have at least an intermediate level of macroeconomic knowledge otherwise you may get bogged down by the jargon。 I won’t criticize this book any further for fear my roommate In “The End of Alchemy” Mervyn King offers a detailed analysis of the crisis and prudent ideas for prevention。 While this book oftentimes feels more like a textbook and some of the chapters can get quite dry， the ideas and analysis within were enough to maintain my interest throughout。 I would only recommend this book if you have at least an intermediate level of macroeconomic knowledge otherwise you may get bogged down by the jargon。 I won’t criticize this book any further for fear my roommate Nico will accuse me of being a hawkish bear （even though I’m a dovish bull）。 This book was really good though！8/10 。。。more
Sammy Pan
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I am a master's student in economics， although my specialisation is not macro economics。 I bought this book because I wanted to see how macroeconomic theories play their role in real life。 I thought I knew a bit about macroeconomics， until I read this book。 I see no review about the actual readability of the book。 I guess either everyone finds the book easy to ready or no one is willing to admit that they simply did not understand most of what Mervyn King is talking about。 I will be honest then。 I am a master's student in economics， although my specialisation is not macro economics。 I bought this book because I wanted to see how macroeconomic theories play their role in real life。 I thought I knew a bit about macroeconomics， until I read this book。 I see no review about the actual readability of the book。 I guess either everyone finds the book easy to ready or no one is willing to admit that they simply did not understand most of what Mervyn King is talking about。 I will be honest then。 Although in the forewords， Mervyn King explicitly told readers that his book was not meant for "economists" or those in the economics field， unless you have some advanced understanding in economics and finance， you will find it extremely difficult to comprehend this book。 Mervyn King is an expert。 And as an expert who has worked at a high level in the Bank of England since 1990s， Mervyn King inevitably commands knowledge and wisdom he himself took for granted。 This is， I presume， why reading this book makes me feel stupid--imagine having a conversation with Albert Einstein as he off-handedly explains how relativity works as if it is the simplest thing in the world。 You might have to just teach yourself macroeconomics if you want to understand only about 70% of this book。 Though contrary to what he claims， Mervyn King assumes that the readers have a advanced level of knowledge of monetary policies and macroeconomics theories。 This is not a book where you learn macroeconomics/financial market。 You have to do that before you read this book。 If you do not understand how money creation works through open market operation， or how Keynesian economics models work， or how interest rate， inflation and price are correlated with each other in a macroeconomic context--save yourself some time and read other books first。I am glad my training in economics has given me the tools to learn what is necessary to read this book。 But I struggled， a lot。 Of all the time I devoted myself to this book， 80% of the time is spent in re-reading the paragraphs I didn't understand， reading my macroeconomics textbook to revise economic theories， reading other literature to understand the jargons Mervyn King mentions so casually。 Only 20% of the time is spent in making progress in this book。 。。。more
Jamie Spratt
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If you read one book on economics， this should be it。 Written by someone who understands it probably more than anyone else on the planet。It’s a shame this guy isn’t a politician。
Yuni Amir
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I found the answer to my question in this book。 I am forever grateful to Mervyn King for his insights and clear writings。
Case King
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A very engaging piece of literature。 Even though it was verbose， this book was definitely worth the insider take of what happened during the Great Recession， and what should happen in the future to prevent another one， from a man who was a part of it。
Jean-Rémi Desjardins
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Very much enjoyed this read！
Sean Eyre
，
A good appraisal of the system which enables such dramatic financial crashes。 Offers an accessible overview of the composition of the global economy with respect to this。 Also touches on a few interesting points on game theory and radical uncertainty which are worth exploring further。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=End of Alchemy
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=End of Alchemy&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,End of Alchemy&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0