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53rd out of 100 books
—
119 voters
The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society
by
David Wolman (Goodreads Author)
For ages, money has meant little metal disks and rectangular slips of paper. Yet the usefulness of physical money—to say nothing of its value—is coming under fire as never before. Intrigued by the distinct possibility that cash will soon disappear, author andWiredcontributing editor David Wolman sets out to investigatethe future of money…and how it will affect your wallet....more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
February 14th 2012
by Da Capo Press
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In my continuing quest to read more non-ficiton, I am finding that the more I read it, the more I want more. Hmmm. This one is more of an extended personal essay written by a guy with political leanings that veer left. He takes the interesting idea of going without cash for an entire year, and then picks a couple of points to investigate more deeply. As someone who uses that debit card for smaller and smaller purchases, and who thinks it looks cool to point the phone to share information, I can...more
Wolman, David (2012). The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers – and the Coming Cashless Society. Boston: Da Capo Press. 2012. ISBN 9780306819469. Pagine 240. 12,83 €
Una delle prime cose da dire su questo libro, è che il titolo è un po’ fuorviante. Non si dovrebbe chiamare The End of Money, ma The End of Cash – Non La fine del denaro, ma La fine del contante: questo è quello che l’autore ha fatto (con successo quasi totale) per un anno intero, e questo è il tema che svilupp...more
Una delle prime cose da dire su questo libro, è che il titolo è un po’ fuorviante. Non si dovrebbe chiamare The End of Money, ma The End of Cash – Non La fine del denaro, ma La fine del contante: questo è quello che l’autore ha fatto (con successo quasi totale) per un anno intero, e questo è il tema che svilupp...more
Is cash over? David Wolman would clearly like it to be for hygiene reasons if nothing else. The much remarked mis-title coveres a meditation on the history of both money and cash and the possibility that cash is coming to an end as a useful technology. That, it turns out, is only a tiny part of it. From those who believe abandoning paper money is a sin to those who see it as only fit for criminal activities the meanings people place on cash are diverse to put it mildly. It is clear that cash is...more
A good book, though not a must-read. Favorite quotes:
In the uneconomically titled chapter of [Marco] Polo’s travelogue, “How the Great Kaan [Kublai Khan] causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money all over his country,” he described the bizarre arrangement, this slight of hand that somehow wasn’t. Yet the explorer knew full well that for his readers back in Europe, the explanation would likely fall short. “For, tell it how I might, you never would be satisfied t...more
In the uneconomically titled chapter of [Marco] Polo’s travelogue, “How the Great Kaan [Kublai Khan] causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money all over his country,” he described the bizarre arrangement, this slight of hand that somehow wasn’t. Yet the explorer knew full well that for his readers back in Europe, the explanation would likely fall short. “For, tell it how I might, you never would be satisfied t...more
I found this book well-written and amusing but the main thesis is not new to me. I did learn a few things for example, I did not know that it was illegal to destroy national currency:
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...burning banknotes would violate the section of Title 18 of the U.S. Code prohibiting “mutilation of national bank obligations.” You may be able to marshal a free-speech defense...
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I've also never considered the opinion from the opposing camp, in favor of alternative currencies, that alternative money can potenti...more
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...burning banknotes would violate the section of Title 18 of the U.S. Code prohibiting “mutilation of national bank obligations.” You may be able to marshal a free-speech defense...
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I've also never considered the opinion from the opposing camp, in favor of alternative currencies, that alternative money can potenti...more
As shop-worn as the trope is, I wish that The End of Money had a question mark at the end of its title, at least in spirit. In fact, the title belies one of the central difficulties of the project Wolman endorses: what the book is about is the end of cash, as in physical bills and coins, not the end of money, as in a medium of exchange. That the topics are confused in the book's title speaks to how deeply entrenched cash is in societies throughout the world, and the intense difficulty of dislodg...more
Somewhere there is an informative and accessible book about the end of paper money and coins, but it is not this book. The author is glib and doesn't seriously take into account any criticism of non-physical forms of money. He has a belief and idea in mind and goes on and on about it. He has a bit of stunt non-fiction (he goes without using money but rarely mentions this experiment), a travelogue (he visits Icelend, London, and Hawaii), and a bit of history.
The biggest problem is that he also i...more
The biggest problem is that he also i...more
No matter how many books I read about money, in the end, it all looks like voodoo, religion, smoke and mirrors...
This book doesn't make it make sense, but it presents some interesting ideas about the role of cash money in the scheme of things. Mostly, the author thinks that cash money is a bad idea and that the time is coming when most of our financial transactions will be handled electronically. Cash money costs a lot to create, transport, count, store. Cash money is much more useful to crimina...more
This book doesn't make it make sense, but it presents some interesting ideas about the role of cash money in the scheme of things. Mostly, the author thinks that cash money is a bad idea and that the time is coming when most of our financial transactions will be handled electronically. Cash money costs a lot to create, transport, count, store. Cash money is much more useful to crimina...more
Wolman does a great job of presenting in detail all of the numerous pitfalls and problems surrounding cash, but does little, if anything, to offer any viable alternatives or solutions. True, cash in and of itself is worthless, but it is the guarantee of the government that it does have worth, and our faith in that promise that gives it any value... Admittedly, Wolman has some other valid and compelling arguments against cash. Cash is certainly costly to produce and distribute, as well as prone t...more
Here is my comment in my Spanish Blog: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2...
Well; I thought that this book was about the concept of money as a vehicle to development and freedom but also to doom and slavery; but I found a little essay on how cash is filthy and how we should eradicate it altogether. This author is very entertaining; and takes you to different places in the world where you can see how people live without cash. However; I was looking for some deeper analysis on the whole concept...more
Well; I thought that this book was about the concept of money as a vehicle to development and freedom but also to doom and slavery; but I found a little essay on how cash is filthy and how we should eradicate it altogether. This author is very entertaining; and takes you to different places in the world where you can see how people live without cash. However; I was looking for some deeper analysis on the whole concept...more
Do we still need money? David Wolman tried living for a year without using cash and he did pretty well. This book makes a compelling argument for replacing currency with a new system. Actual cash is, of course, dirty (ask any bank teller), inefficient, costly, and exists more as a concept than as a thing of true value. Not everyone agrees with Wolman's contention that we should move toward a cashless system, of course, and those views are given equal time here. It's a thought-provoking book, ful...more
If you are interested in the history, and future, of money - specifically cash - this is a book you should read. A good intro to national currencies, how money works in the international realm. Also some ideas from folks that many will think are, to use a word, crackpots. Do away with cash? What, are you nuts?
As much as I like the casual narrative style of the book, this is one case where I think I would have really enjoyed a bit more rigorous, if not quite academic, approach to help me better...more
As much as I like the casual narrative style of the book, this is one case where I think I would have really enjoyed a bit more rigorous, if not quite academic, approach to help me better...more
This book talks about how this fast changing world is moving to a cashless society. Wolman brings up some interesting points M-Pesa in Kenya, mobile banking, mobile apps, Paypal, and etc, but yet he wasn't convincing enough on how we are moving to a cashless society. Even with new technology and the convenience it brings, there are still a lot of poverty areas which relies only on cash. Even though there are more people using technology for paying and receiving money, we still have long ways to...more
There's no real thesis, there are factual errors, there's a lot of hearsay, and Wolman chooses to focus primarily on tabloid-level characters rather than serious thinkers. There's nothing really insightful here about the future of money. On the plus side, it's modestly entertaining from time to time, but if you want insight into money, economics, or payments, it's pretty shallow.
I never realized how much society depends on money - now. The author tried to go a year without using cash - and it almost worked. Even though he predicts that someday all transactions could be done with your phone, it hasn't happened yet.
He told me some things I already knew (98% of money is contaminated with heroine) and some things I didn't (most large currency bills are used almost exclusively for money laundering or the drug trade).
Phone banking has made it possible for Indians in remote...more
He told me some things I already knew (98% of money is contaminated with heroine) and some things I didn't (most large currency bills are used almost exclusively for money laundering or the drug trade).
Phone banking has made it possible for Indians in remote...more
Liked the book. Having worked in banking for almost 20 years, I understand the costs of physically manufacturing cash vs. electronic financial transactions. Making coins and paper money isn't worth the actual value they're assigned, especially coins. Furthermore, the effect of cash on the poor enslaves them to it, while those who have money least use cash. However, not everyone is on board with the idea of a cashless society, even though the actual cash in circulation of any country in the world...more
Mr. Wolman tries (and fails) to not use physical currency for a whole year. In the process he does a whirlwind tour, visiting people in Georgia (USA) who see electronic currency as sign of evil, people in Reykjavík (who suddenly do not want to repay money borrowed), looks into how and by whom money is being counterfeit (including the North Korean regime) and how governments defend against encroaching their own territory of minting money (see the Liberty Dollar saga), financing of narco and terro...more
Interesting, but never really got started. I think my new rule is that if your book is about your own personal experience of researching and reporting the subject, then you are either a)Thomas Friedman or b) not doing enough reporting and research to teach much about the subject. Or both.
Informative, interesting & easy. Learned a bit, knew a lot already (being in banking). Would recommend it to anybody. I'm torn in my opinion if I'd prefer a cashless society or not, but slightly leaning toward that. I hardly carry or use cash these days as it is.
Really enjoyed this. I don't agree with a lot of ideas around digital currency and why it's better than hard currency but it was an interesting analysis of currency and what gives it value.
A light read about how physical money will be replaced with a computerized equivalent which is good since money has germs and is easily faked.
Very interesting listen, but I'm not sure I'd have given it such a good review if I read it. The subject matter lends itself to a one-day binge lecture listen.
A lot of repetition about a potentially fascinating topic: money. I don't feel any more enlightened having read this book.
See our review in RELAXED FIT E-ZINE http://www.relaxedfitezine.com/m.news...
An entertaining and thought provoking essay on currency...it's history, current uses and its possible future.
An interesting thought experiment into what cash and money mean to our society and the global economy
We are heading toward the end of physical currency. There are new business opportunities serving a cash-less society. This book makes a good argument for sooner rather than later.
My review is on my blog: http://effusionsofwitandhumour.wordpr...
A thought-provoking piece on cash and money; got me thinking about a lot of the relevant issues, and how I use money myself.
I stopped reading this after getting through the first half -- it is an excellent collection of anecdotes about money. It reads more like a magazine article, which makes sense since the author writes for Wired magazine. But it does provide very interesting stories about the various states that 'money' can take, and the pros and cons, and consequences of each. I will probably finish this book in small increments, a chapter at a time, since each is a self-contained story/article.
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David Wolman is a contributing editor at Wired. He has also written for publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Outside, Nature, Time, Newsweek, and Discover, and his work has been anthologized in the Best American Science Writing series. His long-form feature about revolutionaries in Egypt, “The Instigators,” was nominated for a 2012 National Magazine Award for reporting.
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May 13, 2012 10:25pm