: Coinage and slavery rose alongside large standing armies.
: For more than 5,000 years, humans used elaborate credit systems to trade goods long before coins or cash were invented. Debt: The First 5,000 Years
History, according to Graeber, moves in long cycles between (credit based on trust) and bullion (hard metal based on force): : Coinage and slavery rose alongside large standing armies
: A return to credit money as major empires collapsed. according to Graeber
: Typically found around $11.31 – $26.99 at retailers like Alibris or Barnes & Noble .
: Virtual credit money dominated.
One of the book's most provocative insights is that the language of morality, law, and religion is deeply rooted in ancient debates about debt.