The Almightier: How Money Became God, Greed Became Virtue, and Debt Became Sin [Hardcover]

The complete story of how we came to worship money, and how we can stop greed from destroying everything.

The pursuit of wealth is considered an essential function of human nature, and greed is an unspoken civic virtue. Many of us revere billionaires and Wall Street rain-makers, then complain about the system being rigged, and wonder why the country doesnt seem to work for the little guy anymore. Some blame the Deep State for income inequality and corruption, and others blame capitalism, but the truth is that these issues have much deeper roots: our devotion to money is a manmade invention that has transformed over thousands of years to replace religion as the foundation of our society, and it is tearing civilization apart.

InThe Almightier, journalist Paul Vigna uncovers the forgotten history of money, tracing the uneasy and often accidental alliance between wealth and religion as it developed from ancient city-states to todays secular world, where religious devotion has receded and greed has stepped in to fill the void. Through engaging anecdotes, original research, and fresh perspectives on the causes of the many challenges we face today, Vigna makes a compelling argument that money has no power apart from the power we give it.

We can build a better future, where we dont need to choose between helping others and getting ahead. But we cant repair the damage that greed has done until we understand how it took over our world in the first place.

PAUL VIGNAis an author, journalist, editor and speaker, with a particular focus on capital markets and cryptocurrencies. He is the author ofGuts: The Anatomy of The Walking Deadand coauthor ofThe Age of CryptocurrencyandThe Truth Machine. For 25 years, he was a reporter and editor forDow Jones Newswiresand theWall Street Journal, pioneering coverage of the cryptocurrency sector. He has appeared onCNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, andPBSl³.