Auther : David Wolman
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN : 0306818833
ISBN13 : 9780306818837
Pages : 240
List Price : $25.00 $12.49 ( on Feb 17, 2012 )
Book Rating :
Book Description
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 and Wired contributing editor David Wolman sets out to investigate the future of money…and how it will affect your wallet.
Wolman begins his journey by deciding to shun cash for an entire year—a surprisingly successful experiment (with a couple of notable exceptions). He then ventures forth to find people and technologies that illuminate the road ahead. In Honolulu, he drinks Mai Tais with Bernard von NotHaus, a convicted counterfeiter and alternative-currency evangelist whom government prosecutors have labeled a domestic terrorist. In Tokyo, he sneaks a peek at the latest anti-counterfeiting wizardry, while puzzling over the fact that banknote forgers depend on society's addiction to cash. In a downtrodden Oregon town, he mingles with obsessive coin collectors—the people who are supposed to love cash the most, yet don't. And in rural Georgia, he examines why some people feel the end of cash is Armageddon’s warm-up act. After stops at the Digital Money Forum in London and Iceland’s central bank, Wolman flies to Delhi, where he sees first-hand how cash penalizes the poor more than anyone—and how mobile technologies promise to change that.
Told with verve and wit, The End of Money explores an aspect of our daily lives so fundamental that we rarely stop to think about it. You’ll never look at a dollar bill the same again.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2012: Say good-bye to your beloved Benjamins, because the world is going cashless. So says David Wolman, and in The End of Money, he explores the drastic implications. How is it happening? What's at stake? Why does it matter? Each chapter of this timely and fascinating book focuses on a specific aspect of the coming cashlessness. Its cast of compelling characters includes an end-times fundamentalist who views the growing obsolescence of cash as a sign of the coming rapture; an Icelandic artist whose claim to fame illustrates the complicated relationship between cash and nationalism; an American libertarian and coin-maker convicted on federal charges for the distribution of "Liberty" coins and Ron Paul dollars; and an Indian software engineer (self-billed as "the assassin of cash") whose firm is enabling digital payment methods that are lifting the living standards of thousands of poor New Dehli residents via their cell phones. Raising the stakes with a personal experiment, Wolman goes (almost) a full year without using cash at all. All told, The End of Money offers everything there is to love about popular nonfiction, rendering a complex subject entertaining and easily approachable for a wide audience while proving the ultimate adventurousness inherent in a curiosity about the workings of the world. --Jason Kirk
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The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society Reviews
| 44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:  Must-read to understand the future of money, This review is from: The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society (Hardcover) Alternating between in-depth reporting and personal rumination, Wired contributing editor Wolman (Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling, 2008, etc.) tries to figure out what a cashless society would mean and whether it is an idea whose time has come. The author decided to live without spending cash for a year, but he does not develop that portion of the saga at length. Mostly he focuses on visionaries who are hoping, for a variety of reasons, to eliminate paper money and coins. Some of the advocates believe a cashless society would function more smoothly and reduce deficit spending. Others are more politically oriented, wanting to remove governments from printing/coining what has come to be called "money." In Iceland, Wolman looks at whether or not the citizenry will actually put an end to the national currency. In England, he mingles with deep-thinking reformers who discuss how to achieve a digital cash economy. In... Read more 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:  Superb Book! Here is why you will want to read & SHARE!, Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society (Hardcover) As a college instructor and business writer, I try to keep up with prevaling trends and perhaps no trend is of more interest and/or controversy than the coming cashless society. Feared by religious groups and criminal concerns yet strongly sought out by politicians and "one worlders", everything from mobile money (via cell phones) to the history of how we arrived to the use of money is covered.The author is very engaging - no dry stories or antiquated examples in here! Readers will be delighted to encounter a fun yet informative set of facts that provide ample opportunity to gain greater understanding of the history, trends, promises and pitfalls surrounding what is likely to be one of the most dramatic changes to society in eras. Those wishing for more resources and references will be pleased to encounter the inclusion of documented citations and references. However, there are also liberal examples, opinions and interveiw segments included which add insight... Read more 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:  A Well Written - Somewhat Timid - Look at Digital Cash, Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society (Hardcover) This book well written. It's an easy read... filled with some very interesting and eccentric characters. But in his effort to provide an impartial look at the future of cash, the author comes across as a bit timid.What you're left with is some insightful and entertaining material... what you'd find in an average episode of 60 Minutes. But it seems like the author ran away from the big questions, such as faith in the U.S. dollar as reserve currency... and how exactly digital money will overcome cash in developed markets like the U.S. and Europe. Long story short, I think this book is a little short on depth. It raises more questions than it answers. And if that was the author's intent, then well done. But I was expecting more conclusive evidence and deeply held conviction than was on display in The End of Money. The title and powerful endorsements from Larry Summers, Chris Anderson, etc. were the strongest part of the book. The End of Money... Read more |
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