90: The 800 Year Decline in Interest Rates with Paul Schmelzing

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of financial crises across eight centuries, revealing recurring patterns and offering insights into their causes and consequences. The authors use historical data to challenge conventional economic models and highlight the importance of understanding historical context in financial decision-making. The book emphasizes the cyclical nature of financial crises and the limitations of relying solely on short-term data. It also explores the role of policy responses in shaping the severity and duration of crises. "Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" is a crucial resource for economists, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding the long-term dynamics of financial markets.

This book examines the significant decline of the British aristocracy in the 20th century, particularly focusing on the impact of World War I. It explores the social, economic, and political factors that contributed to their diminished power and influence. The author analyzes the loss of life and wealth among the aristocracy during the war, as well as the changing social landscape that challenged their traditional dominance. The book also considers the lasting consequences of these changes on British society and its class structure. It provides a detailed historical account of the aristocracy's transformation and its relevance to broader societal shifts.

In this book, Steven Pinker presents a detailed argument that violence has significantly decreased over the course of human history. He uses extensive data and statistical analysis to demonstrate this decline in various domains, including military conflict, homicide, genocide, torture, and the treatment of children, homosexuals, animals, and racial and ethnic minorities. Pinker identifies four key human motivations – empathy, self-control, the moral sense, and reason – as the 'better angels' that have oriented humans away from violence and towards cooperation and altruism. He also discusses historical forces such as the rise of the state (which he terms 'Leviathan'), the spread of commerce, the growth of feminist values, and the expansion of cosmopolitanism, which have contributed to this decline in violence.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of interest rates from ancient times to the modern era. Despite the limited data before the Industrial Revolution, the authors offer a highly detailed examination of money markets and borrowing practices in major economies. The book asserts that free market long-term interest rates serve as a 'fever chart' of a nation's economic and political health, highlighting the significant volatility of rates in the 20th century and its implications for understanding economic and political excesses.