Book Review: 📜The History of Money

The History of Money by Jack Weatherford (Non-Fiction)👍

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ” ― Michael Crichton

For anyone interested in the future of money and cryptocurrencies, The History of Money by Jack Weatherford is the most accessible text I have found on this subject. It tells the history of money and busts a lot of myths along the way. For example, there was probably never a pure barter system: one goat is not equally divisible by five chickens; you need something to even out the trade unless you are willing to start splitting chickens (or hares I guess🤣). And if you don’t already know about the symbolism of the Emerald City and yellow brick road, he will let you in on another way to think of Dorothy’s adventures.

Even though this book was written in 1998, Weatherford does a great job of predicting the rise of digital dollars and cryptocurrencies.

Highly recommend. Amazon Link: The History of Money.

J. Scott Christianson is a technologist and an Associate Teaching Professor of management at the Trulaske College of Business, where his interests are focused on the impact of technology on society. You can connect with him on his website, LinkedIn, Twitter, or by following his newsletter, The Free-Range Technologist.