Debt : : the First 5,000 Years

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"Before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods-that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors-which lives on in full force to this day. So says anthropologist David Graeber in a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Renaissance Italy to Imperial China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like "guilt," "sin," and "redemption") derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Perfect for learning submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on July 27, 2024, 8:07pm I’ll admit that, as a well-educated community member who is not remotely an economist, I can’t report back the entire contents of this book. I wasn’t looking for that, though. I wanted to come away with a grounding… an overview… a personal big-picture understanding of how finances/ money/ debt/ credit has worked over history. I definitely got that, in spades. Graeber gives a well-organized outline of the development of credit, debt, and money over time, across the globe, with both big picture overview, mid-level insight, and concrete examples throughout history.

I love the way that this book is so thoroughly multicultural. Obviously starting 5000 years ago, “Europe” wasn’t Europe as we think of it today (it was the continental space, but not the cultural one), but the author doesn’t center the story of debt solely on how it developed in this part of the world. We get examples and stories ranging from the Incas and Iroquois to China, India, Africa, and (yes) throughout Mesopotamia, to what became Greece, Rome, and the whole of the Middle East and Europe. (I read an astronomy book a while ago that talked about constellations and only acknowledged European names/stories, and it drove me wild. Cultures everywhere have seen pictures in the stars. Why did only one set matter to that author except for European/ white privilege? Graeber gets it right by seeking perspectives and development from around the globe.)

I know more than I did, and it has changed the lens that I will use for viewing many other historical events. What a gift.

Great read submitted by fuzzyboy on July 9, 2025, 8:09am Really great read about the history of debt and human society.