Welcome to PS Book Recommendations, your weekly source of reading inspiration, provided by PS contributors. This week’s edition features Victoria Gierok, a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow in Economic History at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford, and Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics and Professor of Economics Emeritus of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Medieval European and Chinese history show that while the establishment of well-functioning common currencies requires political skill and vision, their survival depends on institutions that are free from political influence. The good news for the euro is that it ticks both boxes. Read the Longer Read.
"Volckart, a historian at the London School of Economics, masterfully traces the political tug of war that unfolded in sixteenth-century 'Germany' (what was then the core of the Holy Roman Empire), culminating in the successful creation of a common silver currency, the Reichsguldiner, in 1559." – Gierok
"Xu’s book is certainly ambitious, spanning more than a thousand years of Chinese history." And while it "lacks a thread to guide the reader through the myriad details of a disjointed timeline," it "does touch on one of the biggest debates in Chinese monetary history: Was monetization driven by state-mandated taxes in silver, or by an expansion of commerce?" – Gierok
A 2022 book argues that the only effective responses to government or market deficiencies come from civil society. When society is “malfunctioning” – for example, owing to deep polarization or fragmentation – that response mechanism is disrupted, and can even stop working altogether. Read the commentary.
Nilekani's "thoughtful, realistic, and cautiously optimistic blueprint for a healthy society is worthy of attention, reflection, and debate." – Spence
Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter does not entitle the recipient to re-publish any of the content it contains.
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