"The cash nexus is the crucial point where money and power meet. But does money make the political world go round? Does the success of democracy depend on economic growth? Does victory always go to the richest of the great powers? Or are financial markets the true 'masters' of the modern world?" "With the analytical boldness and the grasp of dazzling detail for which he is now famous, Ferguson offers a fascinating account of the evolution of today's economic and political landscape, from 'sleaze' to the single currency. Far from being driven by iron economic laws, he argues, modern history is the product of unpredictable political conflicts; and it is their impact on volatile financial markets that can make or break an empire."--BOOK JACKET.

Spending and taxing. The rise and fall of the warfare state ; "Hateful taxes" ; The commons and the castle : representation and administration -- Promises to pay. Mountains of the moon : public debts ; The money printers : default and debasement ; Of interest -- Economic politics. Dead weights and tax-eaters : the social history of finance ; the Silverbridge system : electoral economics -- Global power. Masters and plankton : financial globalization ; Bubbles and busts : stock markets in the long run ; Golden fetter, paper chains : international monetary regimes ; The American wave : democracy's flow and ebb ; Fractured unities ; Understretch : the limits of economic power.