The Hard Work of Strangers: A Globalized Economy

Join us for a WACC Speaker Series virtual presentation with Philip Coggan, Bartleby Columnist at The Economist and author of “A History of the World Economy from the Iron Age to the Information Age.” He will share his perspective on how people have played an instrumental role in the innovation of work, trade, farming, and how these specializations formed the global economy.

From the development of international trade fairs in the twelfth century to the innovations made in China, India, and the Arab world, it turns out that historical economies were much more sophisticated that we might imagine, tied together by webs of credit and financial instruments much like our modern economy.

Here, Philip Coggan takes us from the ancient mountains of North Wales through Grand Central station and the great civilizations of Mesopotamia to the factories of Malaysia, showing how changes in agriculture, finance, technology, work, and demographics have driven the progress of human civilization. It’s the story of how trade became broader and deeper over thousands of years; how governments have influenced economies, for good or ill; and how societies have repeatedly tried to tame, and harness, finance. More shows how, at every step of our long journey, it was the connection between people that resulted in more trade, more specialization, more freedom, and ultimately, more prosperity. (Source: Amazon.com)

WACC Speaker Series (virtual)

Date: Thursday, May 7, 2020
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m..
Register online (Free to WACC members and non-members)

 

 

 

Biography

Philip Coggan writes the Bartleby column for the Economist, having previously written the Buttonwood column. Before that, he was a journalist on the Financial Times for 20 years, writing the Long View column and originating the Short View column. He has won a number of awards, including Senior Financial Journalist of the Year in 2008 and CFA UK Journalist of the Year in 2016. The Times described him as “one of the best financial journalists of his generation”.

More: A History of the World Economy from the Iron Age to the Information Age takes the reader from the trading of stone axes in the Neolithic era through to the giant container ships that bring goods around the world today. Along the way, it demonstrates how the connections that link humans have made us more prosperous, allowing us to grow taller, live longer and have many more choices about our lives. It focuses on the sheer complexity of the modern economy; how even a humble tube of toothpaste has required the cooperation of hundreds of thousands of people to bring it to our bathrooms. To rephrase Blanche DuBois, we are dependent on the hard work of strangers