Penguin Books Australia

'Bang on the money . . . both welcome and important . . . the economist unafraid to ask tough questions . . . we need more of his ilk'  Will Hutton, Observer

When the world economy went into freefall, so too did our unquestioning faith in markets. But what happens now? Are bailouts and stern lectures enough, or do we need a rethink of our entire financial system?

'Something remarkable was about to happen to the markets, an upheaval that would change the course of financial history and transform John Paulson from a mere spectator to the biggest player in the game' Autumn 2008. As the world's financial markets collapse, one man is left standing tall. That man is John Paulson, the softly spoken hedge-fund legend who predicted the crash. By betting against the...

'Keynes's economic policies helped lift Britain from its 1930s slump. This accessible, timely study argues he could do the same again' 
DOMINIC LAWSON, SUNDAY TIMES

'One would expect brokers to be wrong. If, in addition to their other inside advantages, they were capable of good advice, clearly they would have retired long ago with a large fortune'  JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES

'Highly readable'   THE TIMES

'Essential … compelling'  EVENING STANDARD

The most remarkable thing that happened to the world economy after 9/11 was ... nothing. What would have once meant a crippling shock to the system was absorbed astonishingly quickly, partly due to the efforts of the then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan.

The humble rise and notorious fall of one of the world's most influential investment banks.

On September 11, 1844, Henry Lehman arrived in New York City on a ship from Germany.  Soon after, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he and his brother Emanuel established a modest cotton brokering firm that would come to be called Lehman Brothers.

'Beautifully written . . . Breathtakingly clever'  Sunday Telegraph

'A lucid and racy account of financial history'  New Statesman
 
Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot. Call if what you like, it matters now more than ever. In The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that financial history is the back-story to all history.

From the banking dynasty who funded the Italian Renaissance...