Most Popular Books by Niall Ferguson

The twentieth semi-annual Munk Debate pits Niall Ferguson against Fareed Zakaria to debate the end of the liberal international order. Since the end of World War II, global affairs have been shaped by the increasing free movement of people and goods, international rules setting, and a broad appreciation of the mutual benefits of a more interdependent world. Together these factors defined the liberal international order and sustained an era of rising global prosperity and declining international conflict. But now, for the first time in a generation, the pillars of liberal internationalism are being shaken to their core by the reassertion of national borders, national interests, and nationalist politics across the globe. Can liberal internationalism survive these challenges and remain the defining rules-based system of the future? Or, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the liberal international order? The twentieth semi-annual Munk Debate, held on April 28th, 2017, pits prominent historian Niall Ferguson against CNN’s Fareed Zakaria to debate the future of liberal internationalism.

Is it time to reaffirm our liberal values? Or are we seeing the birth-pangs of a new era? Two great thinkers debate the question burning behind headlines across the world. ‘No civilization, no matter how mighty it may appear to itself, is indestructible.’ –Niall Ferguson ‘We do not need to invent the world anew. The international order established by the United States after World War II is in need of expansion and repair, but not reconception.’ –Fareed Zakaria Fears of a globalized world are rampant. Across the West, borders are being reasserted and old alliances tested to their limits. Could this be the end of the liberal order or will the major crises of the twenty-first century strengthen our resolve?

The Caledonian Railway was the largest of the three Scottish companies to go into the London Midland & Scottish Railway at the grouping in 1923. This book looks at how the ''Caley'' system fared in the ownership of the LMS in which it became the dominant partner of the latter''s Northern Division.

Osteoporosis is a major healthcare problem, affecting the lives of many individuals worldwide. In the UK alone, up to 200,000 osteoporosis-related fractures occur annually - a figure that is set to increase as the population ages. Pharmacists see many patients with osteoporosis, and thus will benefit from a deeper understanding of this disease. Osteoporosis in Focus contains a clear, concise discussion of osteoporosis and reviews the role of the pharmacist in counselling patients on their illness, lifestyle and medicines. Chapter topics include prevention, monitoring the condition, clinical interventions, drug treatment, hormone replacement therapy, bisphosphonates, screening and pharmaceutical care.The third book of the ''in Focus'' series, Osteoporosis in Focus should be read by all pharmacists as well as by healthcare professionals with an interest in osteoporosis.Niall Ferguson is Chief Pharmacist at Milton Keynes General Hospital, UK

Ferguson presents a treatise about the life and legacy of renowned financier Siegmund Warburg.

In the 2010 John Boynthon Lecture, economic historian Niall Ferguson argues America, with its debt levels and its unwillingness to address the problem, is a superpower on the edge of chaos. Reviews primacy, leadership, and the complex factors behind the rise and fall of great powers.

For the better part of the past decade, the world economy has been dominated by a world economic order that combined Chinese export-led development with US over-consumption. The financial crisis of 2007-2009 likely marks the beginning of the end of the Chimerican relationship. In this paper we look at this era as economic historians, trying to set events in a longer-term perspective. In some ways China''s economic model in the decade 1998-2007 was similar to the one adopted by West Germany and Japan after World War II. Trade surpluses with the U.S. played a major role in propelling growth. But there were two key differences. First, the scale of Chinese currency intervention was without precedent, as were the resulting distortions of the world economy. Second, the Chinese have so far resisted the kind of currency appreciation to which West Germany and Japan consented. We conclude that Chimerica cannot persist for much longer in its present form. As in the 1970s, sizeable changes in exchange rates are needed to rebalance the world economy. A continuation of Chimerica at a time of dollar devaluation would give rise to new and dangerous distortions in the global economy.

This paper reassesses the importance of colonial status to investors before 1914 by means of multivariable regression analysis of the data available to contemporaries. We show that British colonies were able to borrow in London at significantly lower rates of interest than non-colonies precisely because of their colonial status, which mattered more than either gold convertibility or a balanced budget. Allowing for differences not only in monetary and fiscal policy but also in economic development and location, the acirc;not;SEmpire effectacirc;not;? was a discount of around 100 basis points. We conclude that investors saw colonial status as a no-default guarantee.

The hands-on, fun-packed science kit that helps kids get well and stay well. Kids can find out how their body fights sickness and what they can do to help. This eye-opening science package includes a forehead thermometer, microbe-watching kit, pack of tissues, and lots of get-well activities and facts.

This paper asks whether developing countries can reap credibility gains from submitting policy to a strict monetary rule. Following earlier work, we look at the gold standard era (1880-1914) as a quot;natural experimentquot; to test whether adoption of a rule-based monetary framework such as the gold standard increased policy credibility. On the basis of the largest possible dataset covering almost sixty independent and colonial borrowers in the London market, we challenge the traditional view that gold standard adherence worked as a credible commitment mechanism that was rewarded by financial markets with lower borrowing costs. We demonstrate that in the poor periphery -- where policy credibility is a particularly acute problem -- the market looked behind quot;the thin film of goldquot;. Our results point to a dichotomy: whereas country risk premia fell after gold adoption in developed countries, there were no credibility gains in the volatile economic and political environments of developing countries. History shows that monetary policy rules are no short-cut to credibility in situations where vulnerability to economic and political shocks, not time-inconsistency, are overarching concerns for investors.

Chinese edition of The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson In Traditional Chinese. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

This paper is a comment on Local Company Politics: A Proposal by Raymond J. Fisman and Eric Werker which can be found at: "http://ssrn.com/abstract=2206524" http://ssrn.com/abstract=2206524.

This paper studies the evolution of central bank balance sheets over the past 400 years across 17 major economies. The size of central bank balance sheets has varied substantially over time relative to economic and financial activity. Major balance sheet expansions were initially associated with government finance in geopolitical emergencies, but over time liquidity provision during financial turmoil has become the key driver of balance sheet operations. We examine the historical record of such lender of last resort interventions with a novel identification strategy based on pre-determined ideological beliefs of acting central bank governors ("hawks" vs. "doves") with respect to financial sector support. Using exogenous variation in the crisis response, we estimate the effects of lender of last resort operations on the economy. History shows that liquidity support during financial crises has indeed tended to stabilize the economy successfully: crises are less severe, asset prices recover more quickly, and deflation is avoided. However, there is also evidence that the provision of central bank liquidity to financial markets raises the probability of future boom-bust episodes, pointing to potential moral hazard effects of central bank intervention.

In the summer of 1992, hedge fund manager George Soros was contemplating the possibility that the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) would break down. Designed to pave the way for a full-scale European Monetary Union, the ERM was a system of fixed exchange rates linking together twelve members of the European Union, including Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. However, the impact of German reunification after 1989 had created significant strains within the system. Moreover, financial deregulation and the growth of cross-border flows of ''hot" money increased the likelihood that a speculative attack on one or more ERM currencies might succeed. Soros had to decide which currencies to bet against. The Italian lira? The British pound? The French franc? Or all three? The result could determine the success or failure of the project for a single European currency.