"A highly readable disentangling of currency’s past and present" -- Kirkus Reviews. Follow the Money is based on a startling insight: there are three different forms of money, not just one; and the form of money a society implements both determines and expresses the kind of society it will be, and what's more, how it will think. For money is not neutral. It is a product of human artifice, the particular expression of a particular society, that at the same time determines the further course of that society, not just in terms of economics, but in all areas of cultural endeavor. This thesis is implemented with verve. The book takes the reader on a journey through history, beginning with ancient Mesopotamia, through Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome, then through medieval and early-modern Europe in its interaction with the Near and Far East, all the way to the modern-day community of nations. It demonstrates in no uncertain terms just how decisive the institution of money has been, and at the same time just how misunderstood - its role, its effects, even the very form it takes. This is still the case, with the result that political choices and action end up entirely misguided. It is especially true of the attempt to address the credit and debt crises afflicting the world today. The way forward will only come through a better understanding of money as institution. This book is a first step in arriving at such an understanding. As such, it takes the form of historical inquiry, which is the only form such a first step can take.  Kirkus Review: "In this stimulating, offbeat work of history, the author posits that the manufacture and manipulation of money—and the radically different approaches societies have taken to both those activities—have shaped events in more comprehensive ways than standard histories allow. The author carefully examines ancient cultures, such as those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylon and Phoenicia, and calls their central monetary device of precious metals the “universal glue” of these societies. The artificiality of metal standards, he points out, has been a bone of economic contention throughout history; for example, he quotes U.S. presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 Democratic National Convention speech crying out against a gold standard, which he saw as potentially crucifying mankind upon “a cross of gold.” The gold standard takes a beating from Alvarado as well, who asserts that “the nations of the world have no need of a Wizard of Oz to grant them prosperity.” He writes of the gold mania that gripped Byzantium in the decades prior to its fall in 1453 and insists that “gold became an albatross around the empire’s neck; the single-minded pursuit of coined perfection contributed in great degree to the empire’s demise.” He also rails against the “triumph of prodigious proportions” that allowed international bankers to seek control of currency, “not of one nation, but of all nations at once.” Finally, Alvarado makes a wide-ranging case against the concept of fixed rates of exchange, claiming they ultimately strangle economic growth. The author’s research is vast, and he marshals his facts with considerable skill. Readers with no financial background won’t feel daunted by this history, but they may likely find it informative."

Follow the Money: The Money Trail Through History

Business & Money

Alvarado, Ruben

Economics

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Virtually unknown apart from specialist scholars, Friedrich Julius Stahl was a leading German philosopher, professor of constitutional law, and statesman in 19th century Germany. His Christian political philosophy both impacted practical politics in a time of upheaval in Germany (around and after 1848), and influenced anti-revolutionary thinkers of subsequent generations. His work is a monument to a Germany that was overwhelmed and subsumed by the Bismarck revolution, which substituted Realpolitik for Christian tradition. His biography in English is long overdue.

Authority Not Majority

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Wordbridge Pub

Common Law & Natural Rights

Common law is explored as the alternative to natural rights as a means of restricting state power. The separation of powers is weighed in the balance and found wanting as a brake on state power. The underlying root of this inability is discovered in the philosophy of natural rights. Natural rights gave birth to the separation of powers, but neither the former nor the latter has been able to restrain government. This failure is highlighted in detail, and the alternative means to the same end, the common law, is brought to the fore.

Common law is explored as the alternative to natural rights as a means of restricting state power. The separation of powers is weighed in the balance and found wanting as a brake on state power. The underlying root of this inability is discovered in the philosophy of natural rights. Natural rights gave birth to the separation of powers, but neither the former nor the latter has been able to restrain government. This failure is highlighted in detail, and the alternative means to the same end, the common law, is brought to the fore.

"A highly readable disentangling of currency’s past and present" -- Kirkus Reviews. Follow the Money is based on a startling insight: there are three different forms of money, not just one; and the form of money a society implements determines the kind of society it will be, and what's more, how it will think. For money is not neutral. It is a product of human artifice, the particular expression of a particular society, that at the same time determines the further course of that society, not just in terms of economics, but in all areas of cultural endeavor. This thesis is implemented with verve. The book takes the reader on a journey through history, beginning with ancient Mesopotamia, through Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome, then through medieval and early-modern Europe in its interaction with the Near and Far East, all the way to the modern-day community of nations. It demonstrates in no uncertain terms just how decisive the institution of money has been, and at the same time just how misunderstood - its role, its effects, even the very form it takes. This is still the case, with the result that political choices and action end up entirely misguided. It is especially true of the attempt to address the credit and debt crises afflicting the world today. The way forward will only come through a better understanding of money as institution. This book is a first step in arriving at such an understanding. As such, it takes the form of historical inquiry, which is the only form such a first step can take. Follow the Money is illustrated and published in full color. Kirkus Review: "In this stimulating, offbeat work of history, the author posits that the manufacture and manipulation of money—and the radically different approaches societies have taken to both those activities—have shaped events in more comprehensive ways than standard histories allow. The author carefully examines ancient cultures, such as those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylon and Phoenicia, and calls their central monetary device of precious metals the “universal glue” of these societies. The artificiality of metal standards, he points out, has been a bone of economic contention throughout history; for example, he quotes U.S. presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 Democratic National Convention speech crying out against a gold standard, which he saw as potentially crucifying mankind upon “a cross of gold.” The gold standard takes a beating from Alvarado as well, who asserts that “the nations of the world have no need of a Wizard of Oz to grant them prosperity.” He writes of the gold mania that gripped Byzantium in the decades prior to its fall in 1453 and insists that “gold became an albatross around the empire’s neck; the single-minded pursuit of coined perfection contributed in great degree to the empire’s demise.” He also rails against the “triumph of prodigious proportions” that allowed international bankers to seek control of currency, “not of one nation, but of all nations at once.” Finally, Alvarado makes a wide-ranging case against the concept of fixed rates of exchange, claiming they ultimately strangle economic growth. The author’s research is vast, and he marshals his facts with considerable skill. Readers with no financial background won’t feel daunted by this history, but they may likely find it informative."

Follow the Money is based on a startling insight: there are three different forms of money, not just one; and the form of money a society implements determines the kind of society it will be, and what's more, how it will think. For money is not neutral. It is a product of human artifice, the particular expression of a particular society, that at the same time determines the further course of that society, not just in terms of economics, but in all areas of cultural endeavor. This thesis is implemented with verve. The book takes the reader on a journey through history, beginning with ancient Mesopotamia, through Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome, then through medieval and early-modern Europe in its interaction with the Near and Far East, all the way to the modern-day community of nations. It demonstrates in no uncertain terms just how decisive the institution of money has been, and at the same time just how misunderstood - its role, its effects, even the very form it takes. This is still the case, with the result that political choices and action end up entirely misguided. It is especially true of the attempt to address the credit and debt crises afflicting the world today. The way forward will only come through a better understanding of money as institution. This book is a first step in arriving at such an understanding. As such, it takes the form of historical inquiry, which is the only form such a first step can take. Follow the Money is illustrated and published in full color.

At the dawn of the modern age a debate took place that would determine the further course of Western and thus world civilization. This debate did not take place in any assembly or debating chamber. It took place in the hearts and minds of the trend-setting intelligentsia of the day.
Two figures engaged in this debate, acting as signposts at the crossroads which materialized in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when a decision loomed and a path had not yet irrevocably been embarked upon. They functioned at the time and place destined to be the stage upon which this decision would become apparent: in and around the Dutch Republic in its struggle for freedom from the Spanish monarchy. They shared the same inheritance, constraints, and influences; the one fashioned it in a way that proved a resounding success which would be received as orthodoxy, the framework of right-thinking people for centuries to come; the other in a way that, although offering a coherent and constructive alternative, languished in obscurity, only in our day receiving renewed interest from the scattered flock of academics and churchmen (and women) who either make the knowledge of such things their business, or share a wistfulness for and inkling of this world we have lost.
The one is Hugo Grotius, world renowned, the so-called “Father of International Law.” Although the appropriateness of such an appellation has been drawn into well-deserved doubt in our time, what should not be in doubt is the paradigmatic role his work played in the course of our civilization. Grotius fashioned the synthesis of the socio-political-legal-constitutional materials, the harvest of centuries of scholarship, into the familiar modern shape, which this book will explore in extenso. It is his path that was chosen, his seed that has now reached harvest time.
The other is Johannes Althusius, forgotten by the Enlightenment but restored to honor in the 19th century by the German “revivalist” of associationalism Otto von Gierke. Althusius drew on the same source materials as Grotius to fashion his own synthesis of political, legal, and constitutional thought, a synthesis which then fell into abeyance as its competitor synthesis triumphed, but which in our day has enjoyed a renaissance that promises a theoretical renewal of our understanding of constitutionalism and the rule of law.
These two men encapsulate the conflict of Western civilization. The path of the one was taken, the path of the other eschewed. For at the crossroads of Western civilization the eventful, fateful choice was made to go down the path of rationalist individualism instead of the path of communitarian associationalism, the path of Grotius instead of the path of Althusius. It is their achievements which are elucidated in this book.

The Debate that Changed the West: Grotius versus Althusius

History

World

Pantocrator Press

It is no secret that Western civilization is under siege. Outside the gates, the world demands a share of the wealth as well as the power that the West enjoys. Inside the gates, the Western way of life is challenged by those who demand fundamental change in the direction of social justice. Upon closer inspection, Western civilization evinces a divergence within itself. It proves to comprise two blocs, with opposing agendas and opposing ideologies. The one bloc is located within the Anglo-American orbit, the other within the orbit of Continental Europe. This explains the drive toward European Union. The EU gives formal shape to this ideological coherence among the Continental European nations. By the same token, it explains the drive toward "Brexit" in the United Kingdom, the UK being part of the Anglo-American orbit. This perspective opens the door to understanding the dynamic of global politics. Far from being a case of the "West versus the Rest," the global political dynamic is driven by this divergence within Western civilization itself. The drive toward global governance, universal jurisdiction, the normalization of the sexual revolution, the climate change agenda, are all expressions, not of the rest of the world, but of the West, and within the West, of the Continental European bloc. This also explains why the USA inevitably stands in the way of the Continental European agenda. Its tradition, its ideology, is fundamentally other, and the two cannot be reconciled. And it explains unrelenting anti-Americanism even in the USA itself, propagated by media, academia, even political parties. The ideological split runs right through American society, weakening it from within. For the one tradition is home-grown, the other is imported. How are we to explain the divergence? Where did these two opposing orientations come from? What more can be said about their conflict, and what will be the result of it? These are the questions raised in A Common Law. Published on the 20th anniversary of the first edition, this second edition includes the first edition in its entirety, and supplements it with running commentary as well as additional material bringing the issues forward to the situation post-2016.

A Common Law: The Law of Nations and Western Civilization

Foreign & International Law

A Theology of Nature

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alvarado, Ruben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Alvarado, Ruben

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alvarado, Ruben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Follow the Money: The Money Trail Through History

Authority Not Majority

Common Law & Natural Rights

Common Law & Natural Rights

Follow the Money: The Money Trail Through History

Follow the Money: The Money Trail Through History

The Debate that Changed the West: Grotius versus Althusius

A Common Law: The Law of Nations and Western Civilization

A Theology of Nature

A Theology of Nature