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The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources
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About The World For Sale: Money, Power, And The Traders
Product 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. Review "This jaw-dropping study shows how much money and global influence is concentrated in the hands of a tiny group... A remarkable book... As the authors roam from oilfield to wheatfield, they reveal information so staggering you almost gasp... The colour is fantastic... Tracking down some of the biggest names in the business to their German castles and stud farms and persuading them to talk is a rare scoop. --Sunday Times "The commodity-traders who feature in The World For Sale are not the kind who yell orders at each other in the ring of the London Metal Exchange, [but instead] the small band of mostly private companies that move bulk commodities from there to here. It is a fascinating and revealing story, largely because of where "there" is: usually a place where many people would prefer not to do business, run by characters they would prefer not to do it with. A handful of swashbucklers became billionaires by overcoming such qualms... There are tales in the book of breathtaking trades, such as shipments of rebel oil from war-torn Libya or deals bartered amid the brutal "aluminium wars" in the Russia of the 1990s... The seeds of a sequel to this gripping book lie somewhere here." --The Economist "Javier Blas and Jack Farchy probe the hard-knuckle and secretive world of commodity trading." --What to Read in 2021, Financial Times "Blas and Farchy compellingly lay out how a handful of secretive traders have had a hand in directing not only the world's commodities, but also its politics and history. The World For Sale draws back the covers on a sector where civil wars, dubious regimes and the collapse of states have often been just another business opportunity -- and what that has meant for the rest of us. Intriguing and, at times, alarming." --Helen Thomas, Business Editor, BBC Newsnight "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'
