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 20th century, this implies we're living in age of political and economic excesses that are reflected in massive interest rate swings. Gain more insight into this assertion by ordering a copy of this book today.
A History of Interest Rates
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Are you a finance, investing, economics or accounting professional? Find books, read blog posts, and discover new authors and thought-leaders in Money & Markets, a new home for finance industry professionals on Amazon.com. > Shop now |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
The late Sidney Homer published the First Edition of A History of Interest Rates in 1963—a time when interest rates weren't making front-page news—because he believed that a comprehensive history of this universal and basic economic and commercial price was necessary. More than forty years later, A History of Interest Rates has become a classic in the fields of economics and finance.
A History of Interest Rates, Fourth Edition presents a readable account of interest rate trends and lending practices spanning over four millennia of economic history. Filled with in-depth insights and illustrative charts and tables, this unique resource provides a broad perspective on interest rate movements—from which financial professionals can evaluate contemporary interest rate and monetary developments—and applies analytical tools, such as yield-curve averaging and decennial averaging, to the data available.
A History of Interest Rates, Fourth Edition offers a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. It places the rates and corresponding credit forms in context by summarizing the political and economic events and financial customs of particular times and places, including:
- Ancient Times: Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome
- Medieval Times and Renaissance Europe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and more
- Modern Europe and North America to 1900: England, France, and other European countries, as well as the United States
- Europe and North America since 1900: England, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as Canada and the United States
- Other countries and regions in the 1900s: Japan, Russia, China, and Latin America
Much has transpired in the financial world since the last edition of A History of Interest Rates was published. New credit instruments have been introduced, the volume of outstanding fixed-income obligations has exploded, and capital now moves across the globe quicker than ever before. To help you stay as current as possible, this revised and updated Fourth Edition contains a new chapter of contemporary material as well as added discussions of interest rate developments over the past ten years.
Interest rates in the twenty-first century are as much a subject of political and economic controversy as they were in antiquity. Today, they even provide a trail of clues into a nation's economic, political, and financial market health. With A History of Interest Rates, Fourth Edition as your guide, you'll discover just how important interest rates have always been and how you can take advantage of the information embedded within them.
From the Back Cover
A History of INTEREST RATES
The late Sidney Homer published the First Edition of A History of Interest Rates in 1963 because he believed that a comprehensive history of this universal and basic economic and commercial price was necessary. Now in its Fourth Edition, A History of Interest Rates has become a classic in the fields of economics and finance.
This one-of-a-kind guide presents a readable account of interest rate trends and lending practices spanning over four millennia of economic history. Filled with in-depth insights and illustrative charts and tables, this updated Fourth Edition provides a historical perspective of interest rate movements as well as a new chapter of contemporary material and added discussions of interest rate developments over the past ten years.
A sampling of eras and areas covered include:
- Ancient Times: Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome
- Medieval Times and Renaissance Europe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and more
- Modern Europe and North America to 1900: England, France, and other European countries, as well as the United States
- Europe and North America since 1900: England, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as Canada and the United States
- Other countries and regions in the 1900s: Japan, Russia, China, and Latin America
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Many might say that a book of this subject matter would be incredibly dry and boring. But if one reads it from cover to cover, as was the case for this reviewer, one will find it to be packed with fascinating information and insights on almost three thousand years of financial history. Nearly every culture and geography is represented as the authors take the reader on a roller coaster ride over the hills and valleys of lending policies and usury in both private and public contexts. There are many surprises for the reader who is unaware of the great impact that interest rates can have on human activities, including war and pestilence, but also human discovery and adventure. For the serious researcher, there are also a multitude of tables and graphs, illustrating the behavior of interest rate time series for different cultures and governments throughout history.
The scale of importance of interest rates in the modern world is staggering if compared with the historical periods that are discussed in this book. Indeed, and this is brought out by the authors, interest rates in their words are "watched like a hawk", and millions of dollars are spent every year in interest rate modeling and analysis of fixed income securities such as bonds and mortgage-backed financial instruments. All investors, no matter which sector of the market they are involved in, have to monitor very closely the trends in interest rates.
The magnitude of interest rates can enable wars to be fought and lost, as is brought out brilliantly in this book. Legal philosophies and developments have also guided humans as to what is considered just compensation for lending, with rates in some cultures considered to be astronomical as compared to others. And the authors show that there have been periods where lending has barely occurred at all, with progress in such periods taking as expected a back seat. One cannot grow and flourish without taking risk, and lending risk is measured with the level of interest rates and their volatilities.
Many might say that economic and financial history cannot be romanticized. After all, economics is supposed to be the "dismal science". The authors do not intend to present such a romantic view, but they do so inadvertently perhaps. With all the conflicts that have been waged because of financial competition, with most of these conflicts being horrifying and in some cases completely destructive to the societies that waged them, lending encapsulates the need for humans to plan for the future. It exemplifies the attitude that the future holds promise, and solidifies a level of trust between borrower and lender. It allows both parties to assess their current position with what it will be in the future. And of course it is an axiom that it is always infinitely preferable to exchange coins rather than bullets.
The scale of importance of interest rates in the modern world is staggering if compared with the historical periods that are discussed in this book. Indeed, and this is brought out by the authors, interest rates in their words are "watched like a hawk", and millions of dollars are spent every year in interest rate modeling and analysis of fixed income securities such as bonds and mortgage-backed financial instruments. All investors, no matter which sector of the market they are involved in, have to monitor very closely the trends in interest rates.
The magnitude of interest rates can enable wars to be fought and lost, as is brought out brilliantly in this book. Legal philosophies and developments have also guided humans as to what is considered just compensation for lending, with rates in some cultures considered to be astronomical as compared to others. And the authors show that there have been periods where lending has barely occurred at all, with progress in such periods taking as expected a back seat. One cannot grow and flourish without taking risk, and lending risk is measured with the level of interest rates and their volatilities.
Many might say that economic and financial history cannot be romanticized. After all, economics is supposed to be the "dismal science". The authors do not intend to present such a romantic view, but they do so inadvertently perhaps. With all the conflicts that have been waged because of financial competition, with most of these conflicts being horrifying and in some cases completely destructive to the societies that waged them, lending encapsulates the need for humans to plan for the future. It exemplifies the attitude that the future holds promise, and solidifies a level of trust between borrower and lender. It allows both parties to assess their current position with what it will be in the future. And of course it is an axiom that it is always infinitely preferable to exchange coins rather than bullets.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Empire City
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sidney Homer delivers what he promised - a lengthy and extremely detailed history of interest rates. Almost completely absent is any commentary on why interest rates have changed through history. Any observations of cause and effect are left up to the reader to discern. But as a pure history text, the book is readable and thorough both in breadth and depth.
21 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Melvin Sico
Format:Paperback
This exceptionally written, highly readable volume, written by a true pioneer in bond trading and fixed income research, covers interest rate trends and lending practices spanning over four millennia of economic history. Despite the paucity of data prior to the Industrial Revolution, the book manages to present a highly detailed analysis of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. A History of Interest Rates seeks to provide a helicopter perspective of interest rate movements, avoiding anecdotal indications if possible and applying analytical tools such as yield curves and decennial averaging of the available data.
Homer asserts 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 unprecedented rise in asset price volatility and the emergence of extraordinary inflation rates during twentieth-century episodes of economic distress--occurrences which were nearly imponderable during the nineteenth century--it would seem that we are now living in times of eschatological excess, which is actually one of the understated themes in this book's third edition.
This book should be part of the library of every investment analyst, together with such finance classics as Graham and Dodd's Security Analysis and Lefevre's Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Really, just the history of the interest rates, nothing more.
This book contains data and text description of the interest rates of different time and country of this world. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Gong Cheng
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but I'm wondering what I can do with the information
The author states that he doesn't want to get into analysis of the why the interest rates did what they did during the last 5000 years. Read more
Published on September 19, 2010 by Robert Kirk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly as Advertised
The book came in a timely fashion and its condition was exactly as the seller said it would be. Would buy again! Thanks!
Published on January 30, 2010 by D. Greenhaus
4.0 out of 5 stars
Book Review from the Aleph Blog
This book is big, very big at ~700 pages. It is a testimony to the idea that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Read more
Published on January 23, 2010 by David Merkel
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the ten books every speculator should read.
Financial assets grow in value with the passage of time. For debt, we call this "interest", and for equity, we call it "yield". Read more
Published on May 3, 1998 by brockman@earthlink.net
