Bad Money: FinTech as an Instrument in the Battle for Global Dominance
Veteran fintech specialist and technology executive, Brad Rigden, takes us on an illuminating journey of how technology and innovation have disrupted not only money and our economy, but our societal fabric on a global scale. This evolution is brought into context amidst the backdrop of cyclic patterns, historical events and behavioural forces, leading us to the precipice of financial entropy.
Rigden lifts the veil above the influence and changes that technology is anticipated to bring as the digital century unfolds. This illustrates how technological advancements are being co-opted to serve rogue agendas, thereby surfacing the business strategies and simmering geopolitical forces at play.
Whether your interests pique in fintech, blockchain and crypto-currencies, artificial intelligence, economics, money or geopolitics, this book will arm you with an enduring and entirely new perspective with which to understand the world around us, and navigate where we go from here.
This book takes both specific, as well as broad views of Money, digital disruption, and societies’ obsession with financial innovation both historically and more recently with financial technology. It also provides insights into the disruptive field of Artificial Intelligence.
The book introduces the taxonomy and concepts used throughout, while informing the reader with information and patterns which becomes increasingly relevant as the book progresses. This is accomplished by providing context and insights into how to perceive and interpret the world through an innovation and industrialization lens. Unlike similar books, the author has taken great care to ensure the subject matter is crafted to engage a very broad audience.
An area in which the book is very compelling is in the forward-looking role technology is likely to play in reshaping our economy and our world order, while using historical events as a means of anchoring and reinforcing the point of view.
Another interesting dimension is the progression from looking at this broad subject area from the microeconomic through to the macroeconomic as well as into the geopolitical arena.
Among the key takeaways from this book were that Money is more than just something we earn and spend. It is a powerful artefact which can function both as a shield as well as a sword. In addition, many of us don’t really understand what money is and over the last fifty years or so we’ve allowed money and our ability to pay for things locally and globally to assume this nascent role.
Technology and Artificial Intelligence in particular, has amplified this effect and essentially made it increasingly likely that our economy will force a transformation of money and our monetary system to reconcile how consumers, business, and even global trade are evolving.
Inadvertently, the book highlights how pivotal this moment in our history is, and furthermore does so through, using very relatable events to make this point.
Most importantly, I learned so much about subject areas I thought I understood well. I now look at Cloud Computing, Smartphones, 5G and the Internet-of-Things very differently. I will also look at the finance world and the world of money very differently.
Finally, what impressed me the most about this book is the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary expertise it required to write it. It is an authoritative work which encompasses finance, technology, industrialization, economics, payments, commodities, global trade, advertising, business, nuclear physics, metallurgy, populism, insurance, artificial intelligence, military capabilities, international relations and hegemony, monetary economics, law, and geopolitics to name a few.
A well worthwhile and must-read book.
A very current and pivotal read with salient insights into the world of Fintech, AI, economics and our evolving monetary system. Very thought-provoking and illuminating in understanding the relationship between money, technology, and the fragility of our world order. I found this book to be informative, insightful and haunting. I’d consider this book to be the ultimate guide for anyone interested in how money, finance, technology, and geopolitics are evolving, Very forward-looking and a well worthwhile read!
Just finished this book and I have to say I’m very surprised.
The title is very clever and quite misleading. I began reading with one impression and finished with a completely different one. You have to read the whole book to really understand the title. The book is really substantial and pretty cheap when you consider that I learnt more from reading this one book than I did from five years in college and ten in banking and fintech. It has inspired me to further my own research in areas I didn’t consider relevant before.
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand fintech and artificial intelligence or is interested in the economic relationship between countries. Beyond all else, if you want to understand money properly you must read this book.
Bought this book based on seeing it on Fintech Futures. Wow! This book is something else. Never thought I would be so challenged in my perspective on finance, fintech and the implications of AI, Bigtech and the actions of state actors. I finally get why crypto is so contentious and how dangerous developments in technology are in the geopolitical arena. If there is one book you read about fintech and AI, it is this one. Complete genius!
Very interesting book! I hadn’t considered the relationship between the Fintech and AI revolution as well as Monetary decline with the present economic and geopolitical climate. It was definitely a great read and I learnt a lot.
Arguably the most important book that anyone interested in the financial or tech world should read. Definitely an eye-opener and without question the book I’d most recommend without hesitation. Absolutely brilliant!
Utterly brilliant! Thanks for the recommendation. 10/10.
Rigden’s book will provoke argument and is a tour de force across a host of disciplines.
Well worth the read! Thanks for the recommendation.
Excellent book!
I have just finished reading this fascinating book which discusses the precarious state of geopolitical and geo economic affairs we face in our age and how fintech innovation is disrupting the status quo.
The US has for the best part of a century greatly benefitted from having the dollar as the global reserve currency but this privilege and associated world dominance could be under threat with the emergence of new technologies and the rise of other world economic powers, amidst a backdrop of unprecedented national debt.
This book has provided me with a deeper understanding of global economics and what is unfolding across the world right now and why. From global trade, world dominance and cyclic shifts thereof, macroeconomics, banking, economic cycles, de-dollarisation, the history and aspects of money in its many forms including gold, cryptocurrencies and CBDCs, to AI, cloud computing, digital payments, 5G and surveillance capitalism, this book explains all of these concepts (to name just a few) and how innovations are being co-opted to serve diverse political agendas around the globe.
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone wanting to broaden their understanding of the global monetary system and the current and looming state of global political affairs, as well as any technophiles.
There is no more relevant book to read right now! Brad covers it all and with such fact-backed honesty. Ahead of it’s time (when written) and as the world unfolds before our eyes, this epic novel is right on time. A must read masterpiece!
Excellent book, learnt a tonne! Is there another one coming out soon from this author? Does he do speaking engagements?