Debt: The First 5,000 Years | David Graeber | Talks at Google

Why HN readers recommended it

HN recommends it as an 80-minute way to get the gist of the book and a different view of what money is.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Talks at Google

Topic

history of debt

Format

talk

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

8

HN mentions in dataset

13

Recommendation years in dataset

2013–2024

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• The theory of a barter economy as the origin of money has been debunked by David Graeber: [VIDEO] (I find his talk fascinating). He gets into what money is around minute 19. Whether you buy his arguments or not, modern money works like this: The …

• Late to the party but wanted to make sure to contribute this excellent talk by the late David Graeber about the history of debt. It includes the concept of Jubilee. [VIDEO]

• I find the "8000 years" claim in the parent comment to be interesting. My understanding is that it is false, and that metallic money is a way, in which armies impose themselves over populations. This talk by anthropologist David Graeber illustrates my point [VIDEO]