Debt Book Summary - Debt Book explained in key points

Debt summary

David Graeber

The First 5,000 Years

4.4 (59 ratings)
16 mins
Table of Contents

    Debt
    Summary of 9 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 9

    Systems of debt and credit have existed since the beginning of recorded human history.

    Economic history textbooks tell us that the earliest human exchanges were based on a bartering system. Money was invented only to facilitate bartering; later, the idea of credit was introduced.

    However, there’s no actual evidence that bartering preceded money. In most modern, pre-industrial societies, bartering is only done among strangers.

    The Pukhtun of northern Pakistan, for example, are famous for their hospitality, but use a form of barter called adal-badal for those to whom they have no social obligations.

    This is somewhat intuitive. When a family member or close friend asks you for something, do you start scheming about how you can benefit from the transaction? Certainly not; but classical economics would have it otherwise.

    Economic theory actually has it backwards. Anthropology teaches us that people were using virtual money – credit – far before the inventions of coinage or bartering.

    Virtual money was already in use in ancient Mesopotamia, around 3500 BCE. The silver shekel functioned as the single, universal system of accounting, but most of the silver that underpinned this early monetary system was closely guarded in temple and palace treasuries.

    Society also maintained an exchange rate between shekels and barley, the staple crop. Debts and taxes were usually charged in shekels, but paid in barley.

    Despite anthropological evidence, the barter myth persists as it is central to the discipline of economics. It goes hand in hand with the assumption that all individuals are interested in maximizing profit, and that an individual is able to assign an abstract value to anything.

    In reality, this tendency to see the world in terms of exchange value is not natural, but a product of a specific historical process.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Debt?

    Key ideas in Debt

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Debt about?

    Many of us assume that money – or capitalism in general – is a fundamental part of human society. In Debt (2011), author David Graeber presents an anthropological examination of money that challenges common assumptions, asserting that money and the concept of debt are actually products of specific historical circumstances.

    Best quote from Debt

    If we have become a debt society, it is because the legacy of war, conquest and slavery has never completely gone away.

    —David Graeber
    example alt text

    Who should read Debt?

    • Anyone interested in anthropology or history
    • Anyone interested in economics
    • Anyone interested in money as a social concept

    About the Author

    David Graeber was an anthropologist and anarchist activist. A prominent organizer in the social movement Occupy Wall Street, Graeber’s work and writings on anthropology, anarchism, and social justice earned him many accolades. 

    Categories with Debt

    Books like Debt

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    28 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial