Atlas of Finance: Mapping the Global Story of Money

A few words from Dariusz: 

“I finalized the book in my residency, focused on the challenging task of editing the text for impact and clarity. Ultimately, I hope ‘Atlas of Finance,’ unique in scale and scope, will contribute to a lasting change in the way you view both your money and your world.”

Quote from Atlas of Finance: 

“A paradox lies in the very nature of finance. Money is abstract, fungible, and increasingly digital; it can change hands in an instant and without much friction. At the same time, money leaves bulky, tangible, and lasting footprints. Every building, street, and pipe in every town, city, and country is created and maintained with money, and every business and non-business organization follows financial calculations. Due to its paradoxical nature, most people consider money and finance arcane, something to leave to experts and technocrats, economists and bankers. Such an attitude is not only unhelpful but also dangerous. In 1920, the German economic sociologist Max Weber described money as a weapon in the struggle for economic existence. If we want to understand our economic existence and fight for a better future, we must understand money and finance.”

Synopsis:

A unique illustrated exploration of the development of finance that combines data from every part of the world and covers five thousand years of history

“The book is a lot of fun. Data-fixated readers will enjoy unpicking its main content: a series of elegantly produced maps, graphs and other visualizations. These are eclectic in scope and ambitious in intent.” – Jonathan Guthrie, Financial Times 

From the emergence of money in the ancient world to today’s interconnected landscape of high-frequency trading and cryptocurrency, the story of finance has always taken place on an international stage. Finance is one of the most globalized and networked of human activities, and one of the most important social technologies ever invented.

This volume, the first visually based book dedicated to finance, uses graphics and maps to bring the complex and abstract world of finance down to earth, showing how geography is fundamental for understanding finance, and vice versa. It illuminates the people — including Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes — who have shaped our thinking about global finance; brings to life the ways that place-specific histories, laws, regulations, and institutions influence finance; shows how finance relates to innovation, globalization, and environmental change; and details how finance plays a key part in drawing the landscape of uneven development, inequality, and instability.

The Atlas of Finance, with word and image, will change the way you view both your money and your world.