Σύντομη ιστορία της οικονομίας
Andrew Leigh, 2018
A brisk tour of how farming, money, trade and power shaped everyday life—and why economic ideas still explain the world around us.
Feels like curiosity, wonder and unease. About society, ambition and power.
A page from the book
A fortune you never have to move.
Τα νομίσματα αποτελούσαν έναν απλό τρόπο να πληρώνει κανείς για τις καθημερινές αγορές του. Τα νομίσματα έμπαιναν σε πουγκί στα ταξίδια. Ήταν απαραίτητα σε μια τόσο εκτεταμένη Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία. Ορισμένες φορές, οι κάτοικοί της μάθαιναν πως είχαν νέο αυτοκράτορα βλέποντας την εικόνα του στο νόμισμα. Τα νομίσματα όμως δεν είναι η μόνη δυνατή μορφή χρήματος. Στα νησιά Γιαπ της Μικρονησίας, ως χρήματα χρησιμοποιούνταν πέτρινα αγάλματα. Η μεγαλύτερη από τις πέτρες αυτές είχε διάμετρο 3,6 μέτρα. Δεν μετακινούνταν όταν άλλαζε ο ιδιοκτήτης – οι κάτοικοι των νησιών απλώς άφηναν την πέτρα στη θέση της και όλοι στην κοινότητα σημείωναν ποιος ήταν ο νέος ιδιοκτήτης. Από την άλλη, τα μεγάλα αυτά αγάλματα δεν μπορούσαν να χρησιμοποιηθούν στο εμπόριο – αλλά κάτι τέτοιο δεν είναι όσο ασυνήθιστο ακούγεται. Andrew Leigh.Andrew Leigh is an Australian economist and politician who served as a member of parliament while writing popular books on economics.
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Questions readers ask
- What is Σύντομη ιστορία της οικονομίας like?
- Feels like curiosity, wonder and unease. About society, ambition and power.
- What should I read after Σύντομη ιστορία της οικονομίας?
- If you liked Σύντομη ιστορία της οικονομίας, try Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell), Freakonomics (Steven D. Levitt) and The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel).
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Being brilliant is not the same as being in the right room.
The lesson here is very simple. But it is striking how often it is overlooked. We are so caught in the myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth. We look at the young Bill Gates and marvel that our world allowed that thirteen-year-old to become a fabulously successful entrepreneur. But that’s the wrong lesson. Our world only allowed one thirteen-year-old unlimited access to a time sharing terminal in 1968. If a million teenagers had been given the same opportunity, how many more Microsofts would we have today?
Outliers · Malcolm Gladwell
What a lottery ticket and a vote actually buy you.
After all, your chances of winning a lottery and of affecting an election are pretty similar. From a financial perspective, playing the lottery is a bad investment. But it’s fun and relatively cheap: for the price of a ticket, you buy the right to fantasize how you’d spend the winnings - much as you get to fantasize that your vote will have some impact on policy.
Freakonomics · Steven D. Levitt
The expensive thing is rarely the thing you're actually buying.
Be nicer and less flashy. No one is impressed with your possessions as much as you are. You might think you want a fancy car or a nice watch. But what you probably want is respect and admiration. And you’re more likely to gain those things through kindness and humility than horsepower and chrome.
The Psychology of Money · Morgan Housel
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