A Financial Times and Economist Best Book of the Year exploring world trade from Mesopotamia in 3,000 BC to modern globalization. How did trade evolve to the point where we don’t think twice about biting into an apple from the other side of the world? In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Birth of Plenty, traces the story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. Journey from ancient sailing ships carrying silk from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly on spices in the sixteenth; from the American trade battles of the early twentieth century to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China. Bernstein conveys trade and globalization not in political terms, but rather as an ever-evolving historical constant, like war or religion, that will continue to foster the growth of intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of the human species. “[An] entertaining and greatly enlightening book.” —The New York Times “A work of which Adam Smith and Max Weber would have approved.” —Foreign Affairs “[Weaves] skillfully between rollicking adventures and scholarship.” —Pietra Rivoli, author of The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy

Long before the advent of the global economy, foreign goods were transported, traded, and exchanged through myriad means, over short and long distances. Archaeological tools for identifying foreign objects, such as provenance studies, stylistic analyses, and economic documentary sources reveal non-local materials in historic and prehistoric assemblages. Trade and exchange represent more than mere production and consumption. Exchange of goods also led to an exchange of cultural and social experiences. Discoveries of the sources of alien objects surpass archaeological expectations of exchange and geographic distance, revealing important technological advances. With thirteen case studies from around the world, this comprehensive work provides a fresh perspective on material culture studies. Evidence of ongoing negotiation between individuals, villages, and nations provides insight into the impact of trade on the micro-, meso-, and macro-level. Covering a wide array of time periods and areas, this work will be of interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, and anyone working in cultural studies.

This currency trading book provides readers with real, practical information on how to trade the foreign exchange market effectively. It begins by covering introductory information on the forex market, including basic trading mechanics and the benefits of forex trading, and then goes on to describe specific currency trading methods and skills in step-by-step detail. This includes highly practical information on technical and fundamental analysis, risk and money management, and powerful forex trading strategies. These strategies have proven extremely effective in helping traders play the forex game to win. JAMES CHEN, CTA, CMT (Montville, NJ) is Chief Technical Strategist at FX Solutions, a leading foreign exchange broker. An expert on forex trading and technical analysis, he is also a registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT). Mr. Chen writes daily currency analysis, leads forex trading seminars, and has authored numerous articles on currency trading strategy and technical analysis for major financial publications. These include Forbes.com, Futures Magazine, Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities Magazine, and Stocks, Futures and Options (SFO) Magazine.

Has the greenback really lost its preeminent place in the world? Not according to currency expert Marc Chandler, who explains why so many are—wrongly—pessimistic about both the dollar and the U.S. economy. Making Sense of the Dollar explores the many factors—trade deficits, the dollar’s role in the world, globalization, capitalism, and more—that affect the dollar and the U.S. economy and lead to the inescapable conclusion that both are much stronger than many people suppose. Marc Chandler has been covering the global capital markets for twenty years as a foreign exchange strategist for several Wall Street firms. He is one of the most widely respected and quoted currency experts today.

Focusing on market microstructure, Harris (chief economist, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) introduces the practices and regulations governing stock trading markets. Writing to be understandable to the lay reader, he examines the structure of trading, puts forward an economic theory of trading, discusses speculative trading strategies, explores liquidity and volatility, and considers the evaluation of trader performance. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Contrary to the claims made by neoliberal governments and mainstream academics, this book argues that the huge increase in trade in recent decades has not made the world a fairer place: instead, the age of globalization has become a time of mass migration caused by increasing global inequality. The theory of unequal exchange challenges the free trade doctrine, claiming that transfers of value from poorer to richer countries are hidden behind apparently equivalent market transactions. Following a critical review of the existing approaches, the book proposes a general theory of unequal exchange in the light of an innovative reconstruction of Marx’s international law of value, in which money and exchange rates play a crucial role in decoupling value captured from value produced by different countries, even in perfectly competitive world markets. On this theoretical basis, the book provides an empirical analysis of the international transfers of value in both traditional trade and Global Value Chains. The resulting world mapping of unequal exchange shows the geographical hierarchy of capital global exploitation by revealing a world divided into two quite separate camps of donor and receiving countries, the former being the poorer countries and the latter the richer countries. This book is addressed to scholars and students of economics and social sciences, as well as activists of the North and the South, interested in a better understanding of the asymmetric power relations implied in global trade. It makes a significant contribution to the literature on political economy, trade, Marxism, international relations, and economic geography.