kevbot9000 reviewed The End of Alchemy by Mervyn King
Review of 'The End of Alchemy' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
There are a number of problems with Mervyn King's book. The first is the rote recitation of Adam Smith's origins of money in barter that are a fantasy that economists cling to despite extensive evidence pointing to money as credit, both social and otherwise as the start of a monetary system. (see Debt: the First 5000 years for a comprehensive look) While he does comment on the endemic fraud around the crisis, he does not address the role it played in and around the crisis. (Though I am unfamiliar with the Bank of England's role in this, maybe they have an SEC type organization so it was outside his purview running the central bank) And he completely ignores that while GDP rose before the crisis the gains were unevenly distributed, most workers' saw no real gains from 1980 on which would play no little part in a lack of demand. …
There are a number of problems with Mervyn King's book. The first is the rote recitation of Adam Smith's origins of money in barter that are a fantasy that economists cling to despite extensive evidence pointing to money as credit, both social and otherwise as the start of a monetary system. (see Debt: the First 5000 years for a comprehensive look) While he does comment on the endemic fraud around the crisis, he does not address the role it played in and around the crisis. (Though I am unfamiliar with the Bank of England's role in this, maybe they have an SEC type organization so it was outside his purview running the central bank) And he completely ignores that while GDP rose before the crisis the gains were unevenly distributed, most workers' saw no real gains from 1980 on which would play no little part in a lack of demand. (covered up by increasing debt until the wheels fell off the bus) Despite these flaws it was still an interesting examination of the banking system from someone who would know what was going on.
