A history of interest rates
by Sidney Homer · first published 1963
12mentions
3recommended by
7HN commenters
2018–2022first – last mentioned
43% recommend57% neutral
A History of Interest Rates presents a very readable account of interest rate trends and lending practices over four millennia of economic history. Despite the paucity of data prior to the Industrial Revolution, authors Homer and Sylla provide a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. Underlying the analysis is their assertion that "the free market long-term rates of interest for any industrial nation, properly charted, provide a sort of fever chart of the economic and political health of that nation." Given the enormous volatility of rates in the
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…interest paid, which is the secondary part. The word "Cattle" also comes from "kaput". Other words coming from "kaput" are "chapter", "chief", "caudillo". My source for this is the AMAZING BOOK "A History of Interest Rates", by Sidney Homer, which is available on Amazon Kindle and is highly recommended for anyone interested in financial history. Here is S.H.: "Cattle breeding has supplied us with many financial terms…
on “Warrior skeletons reveal Bronze Age Europeans couldn’t drink milk” ↗…some societies never experienced feudalism and jumped straight into capitalism with the domestication of cattle in the neolithic era. Fun Fact: The word "capital" comes from cattle. I recommend reading A History of Interest Rates by Sydney Homer. So as long as Marx sticks to commentary on 18th Century England then he's golden. Alienation of factory workers, economic surplus, rapacious financiers -- it's all good stuff to describe…
on “Kropotkin's 'The Conquest of Bread'” ↗…point, the snowballing side effects of our current policies will just stop working, at which point a new regime will be needed. I don't know when. For a big picture view, I recommend Sydney Homer's A History of Interest Rates. It's a great read and discusses long term interest rate regimes as well as various triggers that changed them. In terms of trying to time these regime changes, I wouldn't bother. What you can do is…
on “In January, there were more real-estate agents than homes for sale in the U.S.” ↗…stands. People can argue who has control over capital, and what kinds of property rights are allowed, but the existence of capital is presupposed by all economic theories. I recommend Sydney Homer's A History of Interest Rates in which he traces interest rates from neolithic period up to the 20th Century. If you want to know what interest rates were charged in the time of ancient Egypt, or early African societies, or Native…
on “Overcoming Bias: ‘The Profit’ Socialism Challenge” ↗The subject’s book “Debt: The First 5,000 Years” was so poorly researched and argued, it’s one of the few books I’ve returned to Amazon in the past two decades. (“A History of Interest Rates” by Homer & Sylla, remains the definitive history of debt among humankind. Originally written in 1963, I’d been hoping to find a modern update to the subject matter.) Similar to this article - lots of…
on “Human History Gets a Rewrite” ↗…things were like without central banks? No one that knows what they are talking about can possibly think we were better off without central banks. It is a childish and clueless view. House Of Morgan, History of Interest Rates from Wiley. Try reading some books instead of looking up things on wiki to back up your already nonsense beliefs. You can not read those books and come away thinking getting rid of central banks is a…
on “Blockchain is not only crappy technology but a bad vision for the future” ↗…Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017J5HBMS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_r.pw... Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452281806/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.a... A History of Interest Rates, Fourth Edition (Wiley Finance) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471732834/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-c... A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802144160/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Hg...
on “The Long-Term Stock Exchange Opens for Business” ↗Hated Graeber's book on debt, but I thought the idea that debt preceded money was uncontroversial. Homer & Sylla go back at least to the Sumerians in 'A History of Interest Rates'
on “What Economists Still Don’t Get About the 2008 Crisis” ↗Equating the natural history of "interest rates" with that of debt / credit relations gives a hint of why you might not have liked the Debt book. Anecdotally, modern day bankers and economists get a real shock when he discusses the long historical…
on “Human History Gets a Rewrite” ↗I had Dick Sylla as a professor for economic history. Wonderful lecturer with encyclopedic knowledge of the history of finance. Though A History of Interest Rates is thorough, comprehensive and well documented, I must say the writing is pretty dry.
on “Human History Gets a Rewrite” ↗We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Here is a 670-year history of interest rates: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-history-of-interest-rat... There is a separate book you can read that attempts to go back 2000 years. Interest rates have never been this low in recorded human…
on “Uber and Lyft’s new road: Fewer drivers, thrifty riders and jittery investors” ↗…creating more credit but eventually you have to pay your debts. We're headed for trouble potentially bigger than anything we've seen before if we continue on this path. 0. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/A+History+of+Interest+Rates%2C+4...
on “Are tech stocks now good value?” ↗