The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die

Written by Niall Ferguson

Narrated by Paul Slack

Bestselling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West's once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470347161

Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson ocupa la cátedra Lawrence A Tisch de Historia de la Universidad de Harvard y la cátedra Wiliam Ziegler en la Harvard Business School. Asimismo es profesor del Jesus College, de la Universidad de Oxford, y de la Hoover Institution, de la Universidad de Stanford. Considerado el historiador británico más brillante de la actualidad por el Times y una de las cien personas más influyentes del mundo por la revista Time, entre sus obras destacan Coloso (Debate, 2005), El Imperio Británico (Debate, 2005), La guerra del mundo (Debate, 2007), El triunfo del dinero (Debate, 2010) y Civilización (Debate, 2012).

Reviews for The Great Degeneration

[Alexandra Squiers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sharp, well observed and expressed, this book remains applicable even ten years later. Some of the predictions are now are current headlines. I highly recommend this book.

[ireadthereforeiam · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I started this book with great gusto. It felt good to be reading about the world, our politics and economies. But as I read on I started to have some concern about the author's tone. A few comments here and there started sounding very subjective, and then dismissive. And then when he started quoting Donald Rumsfeld as some sort of heroic genius, it was all over for me and for the content.The book itself tries to describe the rise and fall of economies in general, and how an economy (read: country) can become static. It makes a few interesting points, but the right wing rhetoric started to overtake the theme and when the theme itself was messy and loose to begin with, there was little room for greatness.

[tommy8croft · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Disappointingly full of bold, unsupported statements and unsubstantiated, sweeping conclusions.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mr Ferguson is a rigorously right wing historian, but useful to read. He is adamant that the retention of property is fundamental to the advance of civilization, and that Social programs had best be left to the actions of charity rather than governmental actions. Private home ownership by the bulk of the population seems to him, to be an unsuatanable posture. Well so the universe might seem to a child of a professional level household. But to those who really have nothing but their educations and sweat to survive, he seems a very shallow person. But, his arguments advanced in this book are quite popular with the better off part of our society. Read it to be forewarned.

[tuckerresearch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I like Niall Ferguson, as a historian, as a writer, as a theorist. So, of course I'd like this. This slim volume serves as a companion piece to his Civilization book and television series. Why did the West achieve so much? And then why does the West seem to be faltering today. Short answer: the West is not doing what it used to do (and, in fact, some are actively fighting against the institutions and actions that spurred that achievement.) I won't bore with details. But there are nice snippets of fact, excellent quotes from historians, economists, and thinkers from today and yesterday. Buy it if you can get it. If you liked Civilization, get it.

[robertp_400354 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book touches on three aspects of "degenration" of Western nations: civil society, the rule of law, economics. He will no doubt be accused of being right-wing, which for Ferguson appears unlikely. His points seem self-evident. The weight of regulation is pulling our various countries down - check. He doesn't argue against regulation, but its excesses. The weight of debt is an inter-generational trojan horse - check. I think it self-evident that we baby boomers are using our governments to indebt our countries to enjoy a lifestyle that we could not otherwise afford. The rule of law has become the rule of lawyers - check. One has only to read the news to see disconnects between reality and justice. No one important from any bank or investment firm after 2008 but we continually jail for petty crimes. Finally, the squeezing out of civil society by government - check. Where are the volunteers now?
Not a happy book, but one worth reading.

[lovinglit · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I started this book with great gusto. It felt good to be reading about the world, our politics and economies. But as I read on I started to have some concern about the author's tone. A few comments here and there started sounding very subjective, and then dismissive. And then when he started quoting Donald Rumsfeld as some sort of heroic genius, it was all over for me and for the content.

The book itself tries to describe the rise and fall of economies in general, and how an economy (read: country) can become static. It makes a few interesting points, but the right wing rhetoric started to overtake the theme and when the theme itself was messy and loose to begin with, there was little room for greatness.