—— Yi Gang, Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China and Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Since human beings have economic activities, there has been financial innovation. Any improvement of resource allocation mechanism belongs to the category of financial innovation. Real financial innovation will improve the utilization efficiency of existing resources, thus creating new value. The Origin of Value, edited by Professor Gozman and Professor Tam Horst, describes and discusses many important and colorful financial innovations in the history of human economic development from an unprecedented international and historical perspective. From loan contracts and interest rates in Babylonian period, stocks in Roman period, flying money in Tang Dynasty and paper money in China in Song and Yuan Dynasties, to Dutch futures and options in16th century, Public Offering of Fund in17th century and the rise of American capital market in19th century, this book shows us a long scroll spanning four thousand years in Europe, Asia and America, and shows us the financial world we are currently enjoying. This book is not exhaustive, but it gives a detailed description and accurate analysis of every part involved. Everyone who is interested in the history of financial innovation will benefit from it.
-Professor of Finance, Si Long School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Research Fellow, National Economic Research Institute, USA.
Wang Jiang, Dean of Shanghai Institute of Advanced Finance, Shanghai Jiaotong University.
For today's China, the value of value source is obvious, because the development after extensive growth can not be separated from finance. How do the currency, bonds, insurance, stocks and funds that are used to it become the measurement standards of human values and then become recognized value carriers? Although human beings have refused the financialization of value for thousands of years, financial innovations are still emerging one after another. Why? Finance is like natural sunshine, which is needed not only today, but also tomorrow.
-Chen Zhiwu, tenured professor of finance at Yale University School of Management.
The Origin of Value reveals the simple and profound financial principles behind seemingly complex financial innovations from a historical perspective through complex phenomena, which also enables us to better understand the value of these financial innovations. On the other hand, from the perspective of finance, The Origin of Value also inspires us to look at some historical events from a new perspective and make deeper thinking on the evolution of many countries and even civilizations.
-Huang Ming, tenured professor of finance at Cornell University and professor of finance at China Europe International Business School.
The past financial crisis once again pushed financial innovation to the forefront. Just as we re-examine financial innovation, the origin of value provides us with a special perspective. This book gives us a comprehensive and objective understanding of financial innovation through the description of unique historical events and the use of a large number of original documents. From the invention of Sumerian interest to the birth of ancient paper money in China, from the origin of ancient Roman stock market to the design of national debt contract, from the establishment of new york Stock Exchange to the popularization of modern futures option tools, we can not only clearly see the original intention and immeasurable influence of these financial innovations, but also urge us to further think about and grasp the direction of future financial innovations by restoring and reappearing the social and historical background at that time.
—— Bei Duoguang, Managing Director of China International Capital Corporation Limited
The book The Origin of Value, based on financial instruments, vividly shows a series of major financial innovations in history. These wonderful historical pictures help us to have a deeper understanding of contemporary financial innovation and a clearer understanding of future financial development.
—— Huang Haizhou, Managing Director of China International Capital Corporation
The book The Origin of Value explores the origin of financial innovation in depth. Financial innovation comes from the needs of social development, such as the earliest loan contract in Babylon, the invention of China paper money and the birth of enterprise capitalism. The development of early European annuities highlighted the role of mathematics in financial development. This book gives us an unusually clear idea of how to actively carry out financial innovation today without deviating from the needs of social development.
—— Xianglin Li, Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director of China International Capital Corporation.
The Origin of Value has made an important contribution to our understanding of human financial history. It reminds us of the ties across Eurasia. For example, the wooden symbols used by Europeans in the early Middle Ages may have originated from China, and the mathematical formulas used by Italian businessmen originated from ancient Indian mathematics. Answered some important historical questions, such as the cultural differences between the East and the West in the13rd century, including the development of financial policies in different directions between China and western European countries. Copied documents and pictures give readers the opportunity to see the records of the distant past, which, like today's financial innovation, also requires creativity.
-James, author of The Organizer of War: Emperor Charles V? Qusai
A wonderful and profound book is helpful to understand the evolution of contemporary financial system. Its broad historical background enables readers to see the panorama of financial history.
-Matthew, editor-in-chief of The Economist? bishop
This may be the first book written specifically for people sitting at coffee tables on Wall Street.
-The Economist
A good book that makes every investor feel happy and can be read on the coffee table contains a lot of precious illustrations, including the wonderful essays of top scholars on the history of financial innovation, from the invention of interest in ancient Samaria to the early bonds in the United States.
-Barron Weekly
A wonderful and vivid financial history. You can see the loan decree with crimson illustrations published by the Venetian government 1262, and browse the early futures contracts of the Dutch West India Company with high printing quality. Each chapter is a microcosm of a period of history, and the rich essays written by a group of outstanding writers such as niall ferguson and Robert Shiller explain to people the connection between China pawn shops, Greek money lenders and the cash that finally falls into your pocket.
Jody Tottenham from Time magazine