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Description
The modern world is built on commodities - from the oil that fuels our cars to the metals that power our smartphones.
We rarely stop to consider where they have come from. But we should.
In The World for Sale, two leading journalists lift the lid on one of the least scrutinised corners of the world economy: the workings of the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources.
It is the story of how a handful of swashbuckling businessmen became indispensable cogs in global markets: enabling an enormous expansion in international trade, and connecting resource-rich countries - no matter how corrupt or war-torn - with the world's financial centres.
And it is the story of how some traders acquired untold political power, right under the noses of western regulators and politicians - helping Saddam Hussein to sell his oil, fuelling the Libyan rebel army during the Arab Spring, and funnelling cash to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin in spite of western sanctions.
The result is an eye-opening tour through the wildest frontiers of the global economy, as well as a revelatory guide to how capitalism really works.
Product Details
| Publisher | Oxford Univ PR |
| Publish Date | March 01, 2021 |
| Pages | 416 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780190078959 |
| Dimensions | 9.4 X 6.5 X 1.4 inches | 1.7 pounds |
About the Author
Javier Blas and Jack Farchy are two of the world's best-known journalists covering energy, commodities, and trading houses. They both work for Bloomberg, where Blas is a columnist specializing in energy and commodities and Farchy is a senior reporter covering natural resources. The World for Sale is their first book.
Reviews
"A colorful and alarming exposé of the shadowy world of global commodity trading... Hair-raising anecdotes... An engrossing look at an obscure yet consequential corner of the financial world." --Publishers Weekly"A virtuoso depiction of the globe's top oil, food and metals traders... Javier Blas and Jack Farchy should be awaiting the call from Hollywood. The World For Sale contains at least half a dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good thriller. But the authors' main achievement is to subject the biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to proper critical scrutiny... The depth of the reporting by the Bloomberg journalists, who previously worked for the Financial Times, is impressive... Fascinating." --Reuters"Some of the stories beggar belief... A fascinating story, it's just incredible some of the routes that the money takes." --Lawrence Pollard, BBC Newsday
"Could there be a better moment for Javier Blas and Jack Farchy's rollicking new account of [commodity] markets' recent history to land on investors' desks? ...This high level narrative is gripping enough. But it is the details of what these freewheeling companies actually got up to that give the book a thriller-like quality. The World For Sale opens with the private jet of [the late chief executive of Vitol] making corkscrew turns into Benghazi airport in 2011 so he can dodge hostile missiles and strike a deal to supply the rebel forces with oil in the middle of the Libyan civil war. That turns out to be one of the more conventional deals that pepper the narrative... Educational and entertaining..." --Felix Martin, Financial Times"If you have the slightest interest in how the modern world was made, by whom, at what price, and at what profit, this is the book for you... Superbly researched and tidily written... A clean, compelling chronicle of the central role that commodity traders have played in the global economy from the end of World War II to the present. What they found isn't pretty -- but it's plenty illuminating. --Foreign Policy
"A highly readable study in world economics and a valuable primer for would-be oil barons." --Kirkus"Blas and Farchy shine light on what's long been the financial market's darkest corner the crucial, yet underappreciated, role commodity traders play in global finance and geopolitics. The characters are fascinating and their impact cannot be understated. The World For Sale is a fascinating, eye-opening read." --Gregory Zuckerman, New York Times-bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market "Javier Blas and Jack Farchy deftly peel back the curtain on the amoral swashbucklers of capitalism who trade in commodities natural resources like oil, coal and aluminium. The World For Sale is a gripping account of how they achieved their stranglehold over the world economy, and their troubling influence on global politics to this day." --Brad Stone, New York Times-bestselling author of The Everything Store"The World For Sale is the definitive, eye-opening story of the most powerful and secretive traders in the world. These commodity traders, including all manner of cutthroats, eccentrics and amoral corruptors, play a major role in the global economy one that few people understand. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy illuminate it perfectly, helped by their decades of experience covering the beat from the ground up." --Bradley Hope, New York Times-bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale"The World for Sale is a meticulously researched, eye-opening, and balanced account that exposes the immense power and often unethical practices of the commodity trading industry that shapes the modern world." -- Sungsoo An, LinkedIn
"Could there be a better moment for Javier Blas and Jack Farchy's rollicking new account of [commodity] markets' recent history to land on investors' desks? ...This high level narrative is gripping enough. But it is the details of what these freewheeling companies actually got up to that give the book a thriller-like quality. The World For Sale opens with the private jet of [the late chief executive of Vitol] making corkscrew turns into Benghazi airport in 2011 so he can dodge hostile missiles and strike a deal to supply the rebel forces with oil in the middle of the Libyan civil war. That turns out to be one of the more conventional deals that pepper the narrative... Educational and entertaining..." --Felix Martin, Financial Times"If you have the slightest interest in how the modern world was made, by whom, at what price, and at what profit, this is the book for you... Superbly researched and tidily written... A clean, compelling chronicle of the central role that commodity traders have played in the global economy from the end of World War II to the present. What they found isn't pretty -- but it's plenty illuminating. --Foreign Policy
"A highly readable study in world economics and a valuable primer for would-be oil barons." --Kirkus"Blas and Farchy shine light on what's long been the financial market's darkest corner the crucial, yet underappreciated, role commodity traders play in global finance and geopolitics. The characters are fascinating and their impact cannot be understated. The World For Sale is a fascinating, eye-opening read." --Gregory Zuckerman, New York Times-bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market "Javier Blas and Jack Farchy deftly peel back the curtain on the amoral swashbucklers of capitalism who trade in commodities natural resources like oil, coal and aluminium. The World For Sale is a gripping account of how they achieved their stranglehold over the world economy, and their troubling influence on global politics to this day." --Brad Stone, New York Times-bestselling author of The Everything Store"The World For Sale is the definitive, eye-opening story of the most powerful and secretive traders in the world. These commodity traders, including all manner of cutthroats, eccentrics and amoral corruptors, play a major role in the global economy one that few people understand. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy illuminate it perfectly, helped by their decades of experience covering the beat from the ground up." --Bradley Hope, New York Times-bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale"The World for Sale is a meticulously researched, eye-opening, and balanced account that exposes the immense power and often unethical practices of the commodity trading industry that shapes the modern world." -- Sungsoo An, LinkedIn
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