【孳息五千年，辨證利息的歷史與當前經濟困境】 利息是資本主義巨輪的潤滑油，也是通往債務和奴役之路。金融史作家錢斯勒則認為，利息是時間的代價。廿一世紀的頭二十年為利率低谷。全球金融危機後，寬鬆貨幣政策產生諸多不良影響，如資產價格泡沫、生產力成長減緩、儲蓄意願降低、殖利率饑荒等⋯錢思樂闡明利息的歷史和利息如何決定資本分配和定價，也說明當前的金融界為何因低利率陷入兩難。 All economic and financial activities take place across time. Interest coordinates these activities. The story of capitalism is thus the story of interest: the price that individuals, companies and nations pay to borrow money. In The Price of Time, Edward Chancellor traces the history of interest from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia, through debates about usury in Restoration Britain and John Law ' s ill-fated Mississippi scheme, to the global credit booms of the twenty-first century. We generally assume that high interest rates are harmful, but Chancellor argues that, whenever money is too easy, financial markets become unstable. He takes the story to the present day, when interest rates have sunk lower than at any time in the five millennia since they were first recorded - including the extraordinary appearance of negative rates in Europe and Japan - and highlights how this has contributed to profound economic insecurity and financial fragility.