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Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt The Solution of the Economic Paradox Paperback – January 1, 1983
by
F.R.S. Frederick Soddy, M.A.
(Author)
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PublisherGeorge Allen & Unwin
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Publication dateJanuary 1, 1983
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Product details
- ASIN : B003ASZN92
- Publisher : George Allen & Unwin (January 1, 1983)
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
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Best Sellers Rank:
#4,620,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
4 global ratings
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Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
I've been in the finance field for 20+ years, so the title was instantly interesting. I particularly like to read books written long ago, to gain an historical perspective on "modern" finance issues. So, this title was right up my ally. If not interested in historical econ. perspectives, it's likely to be not as appealing to you. I would recommend this to first year econ students - summer read - with an interest in getting another perspective on banking & credit creation. It's a fascinating read for the right person - someone in the field of money, banking, and finance. The author is no Ben Graham or "Adam Smith" in terms of clarity, and gets a bit "mathy" at times (reminding the reader he's really smart), but for the most part, it's a good read & I enjoyed it. Overall, I'm also happy that the publisher was able to economically publish it: having old titles sit idle with collectors only is a shame, and I'm happy that many older books are now getting re-published in their original formats and text. (The re-printing of Graham's 1st ed. S.A. was a fantastic gift to the finance community).
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Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
The content of the book is very good however it wasn't bound properly. The pages keep falling out and it was printed on very cheap paper.
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2012
Written in 1921, by a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, the book is a warning for the the Great Depression. When the sustainability of assets and debt became disconnected, overpaying for an asset has serious implications. An economic treatise, this book isn't for the light reader.
"Debts are subject to the laws of mathematics rather than physics. Unlike wealth, which is subject to the laws of thermodynamics, debts do not rot with old age and are not consumed in the process of living. On the contrary, they grow at so much per cent per annum, by the well-known mathematical laws of simple and compound interest. . . . For sufficient reason, the process of compound interest is physically impossible, though the process of compound decrement is physically common enough. Because the former leads with passage of time ever more and more rapidly to infinity, which, like minus one, is not a physical but a mathematical quantity, whereas the latter leads always more slowly towards zero, which is, as we have seen, the lower limit of physical quantities. . . It is this underlying confusion between wealth and debt which has made such a tragedy of the scientific era." (p. 70).
"Debts are subject to the laws of mathematics rather than physics. Unlike wealth, which is subject to the laws of thermodynamics, debts do not rot with old age and are not consumed in the process of living. On the contrary, they grow at so much per cent per annum, by the well-known mathematical laws of simple and compound interest. . . . For sufficient reason, the process of compound interest is physically impossible, though the process of compound decrement is physically common enough. Because the former leads with passage of time ever more and more rapidly to infinity, which, like minus one, is not a physical but a mathematical quantity, whereas the latter leads always more slowly towards zero, which is, as we have seen, the lower limit of physical quantities. . . It is this underlying confusion between wealth and debt which has made such a tragedy of the scientific era." (p. 70).
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Radioactive stuff
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2012Verified Purchase
This book, written by a Nobel Laureate chemist in 1926, is just mind-blowing. I started with little interest in economics, but concern after the 2008 crash, having read a Telegraph
article by ex con Darius Guppy, who had been in prison with a counterfeiter.
Soddy makes scientific sense of the subject, and exposes the scandal of the private banks being in control of the money-supply, and the misconceptions held by the public and so-called experts in economics. 1926 is a long time ago, yet this book describes perfectly what goes on today. The irony is not lost on Soddy that it took a chemist to make scientific sense of economics. When you have finished, get a copy of `Where does Money come from?`published by the new economics foundation, and then a copy (or download) of the IMF working paper, `The Chicago Plan Revisited` by Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof.
article by ex con Darius Guppy, who had been in prison with a counterfeiter.
Soddy makes scientific sense of the subject, and exposes the scandal of the private banks being in control of the money-supply, and the misconceptions held by the public and so-called experts in economics. 1926 is a long time ago, yet this book describes perfectly what goes on today. The irony is not lost on Soddy that it took a chemist to make scientific sense of economics. When you have finished, get a copy of `Where does Money come from?`published by the new economics foundation, and then a copy (or download) of the IMF working paper, `The Chicago Plan Revisited` by Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof.
6 people found this helpful
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