The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources

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The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Javier Blas (Author), Jack Farchy (Author), John Sackville (Narrator),

4.6 2,908 ratings

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Brought to you by Penguin.

Meet the traders who supply the world with oil, metal and food - no matter how corrupt, war-torn or famine-stricken the source.

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 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 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 strict 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Listening Length

12 hours and 4 minutes
Author

Javier Blas, see all
Narrator

John Sackville
Audible release date

February 25, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B08SR5B22K
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 4 minutes
Author	Javier Blas, Jack Farchy
Narrator	John Sackville
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	February 25, 2021
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08SR5B22K
Best Sellers Rank	#6,813 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2 in Investing & Trading Commodities #5 in Geopolitics #7 in Commodities Trading (Books)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

2,908 global ratings

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Pawan Gupta

Fascinating history and anecdotes

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024

Verified Purchase

The book provides a very comprehensive overview of the large commodity traders, their history, their business, and rates amd narrates little known anecdotes, which are probably closer home than most of us realize

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Stephen J. Doyle

They nailed it!

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2023

Verified Purchase

As a former commodity trader, who traded with every major commodity house covered in this book, I was very skeptical that any journalists could do a good job on this subject. Boy, was I wrong! Javier Blas and Jack Karchy did a stellar job! Painstakingly researched (with sixty pages of reference notes), well-written, engaging and the authors should be commended for their success in conducting personal interviews with many traders and key players. Great read! It will be a permanent addition to my library.

10 people found this helpful

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Alejandro Contreras

Surprisingly engaging and insightful

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024

Verified Purchase

A surprisingly engaging book about a lesser-known business: the commodity traders.
Blas and Farchy’s book starts in the middle of the 20th century, and details how a group of entrepreneurial men (yes, it’s a men-dominated business) leveraged information asymmetries to (very) profitably trade oil, grains and metals.
The authors uncover many fascinating stories about the traders and their willingness to take risks, going to where no one else wants to go and negotiating with the outcasts of the world.
This is a cool book. The subject is not on everybody’s radar screen. And that’s what makes it even more interesting.

One person found this helpful

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COLONEL RONALD

INCREASE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024

Verified Purchase

READING WILL INCREASE YOUR EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD.

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Ted

Excellent historical and economic analysis of the commodities trade

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book captures the reader’s attention while explaining the evolution of commodities trading. The authors describe the history and corporate battles within the commodity trading houses and provide the political-economic context that shaped the trading houses, and that the houses also shaped.

For a reader interested in economics and without much background reading in commodities trading, this book was intellectually exciting and entertaining.

For those interested in the dirtier and corrupt side of commodities trading, I recommend pairing this book with the Looting Machine and The Dictator’s Handbook. This book does discuss the role corruption has had in commodities trading, and structurally why traders have the incentive to bribe, but corruption has a relatively small role in it.

4 people found this helpful

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Tina Foster

I found it fascinating.

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

I thought this might be kind of dull reading with lots of statistics, since I don't follow the stock markets or invest in stocks. But the writing was superb, and I was pulled into the world of commodety traders immediately. The authors gave a history or how commodety traders began and how it reached a global market. And the millions and billions of dollars at stake. The upside and downside of how the trading works. I found it all fascinating.

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Bayard B.

Terrific book! Tells of licit and illicit international trading to become fabulously wealthy.

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

I thought this was a fantastic book on international commodities trade and finance. It is written in a style that makes it easy and fun to read. You don’t need any knowledge of commodities accounting to understand and appreciate it.

The book tells of the individuals who created the very concepts of international commodities trading in the 1950s and then moved to establish private partnership companies specializing in certain commodities such as coal, oil, copper, ferrous ores, nickel, cobalt, and now in the 21st century the rare earth metals necessary for cellphones and computers. By the 1990s or early 21st century the profits were in the billions of dollars.

There are many stories how a trader rescued an entire country or government from potential bankruptcy. There are also stories of how one or more of these trading companies were complicit in aiding a local dictator to raid his country of resources for him to become fabulously wealthy.

5 people found this helpful

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Bryan J. Kaus

Want to know what makes the world go round? Read this book!

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

I preordered this book and waited with great anticipation; it did not disappoint. Blas and Farchy of Bloomberg, two of the leading energy and commodity reporters in the world, take readers deep inside the world of commodity trading - chronicle commodity trading's rise from a boring backwater to kingpin status.

The highly accessible and an enjoyable read for industry experts and laypersons alike. The narrative stands riveting, keeping the reader in suspense and thirsty for more. Better still, everything in the book actually happened.

Without a doubt, this will be lauded as a critical work in the years to come and be required reading for traders, bankers and business schools around the globe.

I just wish there was another volume.

Bravo to Blas and Farchy on a stellar work.

23 people found this helpful

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