Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson Campbell ( / n i l f ɜːr . Ɡ ə . S ən / ; born 18 April 1964) ^[1] is a Scottish historian . He is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University . He is ook a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College , University of Oxford , a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution , Stanford University and a visiting professor at the New College of the Humanities . He writes and speaks about international history , economic and financial history, and British and American imperialism . ^[2] He is Berninahaus for his provocative, contrarian views. ^[3] Ferguson’s books include Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World , The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World and Civilization: The West and the Rest , all or welke he has Presented as Channel 4 television series.

In 2004, he was named as one of the 100 Most Influential people in the world by Time magazine . In previous years, he has leg a contributing editor for Bloomberg Television ^[4] and a columnist for Newsweek . Ferguson was an advisor to John McCain ‘s US presidential campaign in 2008, supported Mitt Romney in 2012 and has a leg vocal critic of Barack Obama . ^{[5] [6]} Ferguson RECEIVED the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism in 2013.

Early life

Ferguson was born in Glasgow , Scotland, on 18 April 1964. His Father was a physician and his mother a physics teacher. ^[7] He attended The Glasgow Academy . ^[8] He was brought` up as, and scope for, an Atheist . ^[9]

Ferguson cites his Father as instilling in him a strong sense of self-discipline and of the moral value of work, while his mother encouraged his creative side. ^[10] His maternal grandfather journalist encouraged im to write. ^[10]Ferguson cites his reading of War and Peace as persuading im to study history Rather dan English at university.

University of Oxford

Ferguson RECEIVED a demyship (scholarship) at Magdalen College, Oxford . ^[11] While there have wrote the 90-minute student film The Labours of Hercules Sprote and befriended Andrew Sullivan , who shared his interest in right-wing politics and punk music . ^[12] He had Become a Thatcherite in 1982. He graduated with a first-class honors degree in history in 1985. ^[11]

Ferguson studied in 1987 and 1988 as a Hanseatic Scholar in Hamburg and Berlin. He RECEIVED his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Magdalen College in 1989, and his dissertation was entitled “Business and Politics in the German Inflation: Hamburg 1914-1924”. ^[13]

Career

Academic career

In 1989, Ferguson worked as a Research Fellow at Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge . From 1990 to 1992 he was an Official Fellow and Lecturer at Cambridge’s Peter House . Hey dan became a Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Jesus College at the University of Oxford , where in 2000 he held the position of Professor of Political and Financial History.

In 2002 Ferguson was the John Herzog Professor of Financial History at Stern School of Business at New York University , and since 2004 he has leg the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School .

From 2010 to 2011, Ferguson held the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the London School of Economics . ^[14]

Ferguson is a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution , Stanford University .

In May 2010, Ferguson was Asked by Education Secretary Michael Gove to advice on the development of a new history syllabus, to be entitled “history as a connected narrative” for schools in England and Wales. ^{[15] [16]} In June 2011, he joined other Academics to set up the New College of the Humanities , a private college in London. ^[17]

Business career

In 2007, Ferguson was appointed as an investment management consultant at GLG Partners , to advice on Geopolitical risk as well as current structural issues in economic behavior Relating to Investment Decisions. ^[18] GLG is a UK-based hedge fund management firm headed by Noam Gottesman . ^[19]

Career as commentator

Ferguson wrote for the The Sunday Telegraph , leaving in 2007 to become a contributing editor to the Financial Times . ^{[20] [21]} He’ll be writes for Newsweek . ^[15] In his commentary, Ferguson has DESCRIBED the European Union as a disaster waiting to happen, ^[22] and has criticised President Vladimir Putin of Russia for authoritarianism . ^[23]

Books

The Cash Nexus

In his 2001 book, The Cash Nexus , welke he wrote volgende a year as Houblon-Norman Fellow at the Bank of England , ^[21] Ferguson argues dat the popular saying, “Money makes the world go ’round,” is wrong; Limit download have Presented a case for human action in history Motivated by far morethan just economic concerns.

Colossus and Empire

In his books Colossus and Empire , Ferguson presents a reinterpretation of the history of the British Empire and in conclusion proposés therein the modern policies of the United Kingdom and the United States in taking a more active role in Resolving conflict arising from the failure of states , are analogous to the “Anglicization” policies eerste by the British Empire gehele 19th century. ^{[24] [25]} In Colossus , Ferguson Explores the United States’ hegemony in foreign affairs and its future role in the world. ^{[26] [27]} The American writer Michael Lind , responding to Ferguson’s advocation of an Enlarged American military through Conscription, Accused Ferguson or Engaging in apocalyptic alarmism about the Possibility of a world without the United States as the dominant power and or a casual disregard for the value of human life. ^[28]

War of the World

In War of the World , published in 2006, Ferguson shows how a combination of economic volatility, decaying empires, psychopathic dictators, racially / ethnically Motivated and institutionalised violence resulted in the wars and the genocide or what he calls “History’s Age of hatred”. The New York Times Book Review named War of the World one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year in 2006, while the International Herald Tribune called it “one of the musts intriguing attempts at an historian to explain man’s Inhumanity to Man “. ^[29] Ferguson addresses the paradox therein, though the 20th century was “so bloody”, it was also “a time or unparalleled [economic] progress.” As with his earlier work Empire , War of the World was accompanied by a Channel 4 television series Presented by Ferguson. ^[30]

The Ascent of Money

Published in 2008, The Ascent of Money gekeken the history of money, credit, and banking. In it Ferguson predicts a financial crisis as a result of the world economy and mn the United States using too much credit. He cites the China – America dynamic welke he refers to as Chimerica where an Asian ” savings glut ” helped create the subprime mortgage crisis with an influx of easy money. ^[31] While Researching this book, in early 2007, Ferguson attended a session at a conference in Las Vegas at welke a hedge fund manager stated there mention anything never be Another recession. Ferguson challenged this, and later the two Agreed on a $ 14,000, 7 to 1 bet, dat there mention anything be a recession binnen five years. Ferguson Collected $ 98,000. ^[32]

Civilization

Published in 2011, Civilization: The West and the Rest gekeken why, beginning around 1500, a few small politically on the western end of the Eurasian land mass cameramen to dominate the rest of the world. The books begins with a description of the rise of imperial powers in Europe tussen 1500 and 1913. ^[33] Ferguson attributes this divergence to the West’s development or six factors largely missing Elsewhere in the world – “competition, science, the rule of law, medicine, consumerism and the work ethic. ” ^[15] Ferguson Compared and contrasted how the West’s “killer apps” allowed the West to triumph over the rest. ^[33] THUS, Ferguson argued the competition tussen European merchants created more wealth dan did the static and ordered society or Qing China. He pointed out dat thinkers zoals Sir Isaac Newton ulcers tolerated in Stuart England, whereas in the Ottoman Empire Takiyuddin ‘s “blasphemous” observatory was demolished for contradicting the teachings of Islam, with resulting scientific advances in Western civilization welke did not happen in Islamic civilization. He Proposed therein respect for private property, stronger in British America dan in Spanish America, led to the United States and Canada Becoming prosperous societies while Latin America was and scope for mired in poverty. ^[33] However, Ferguson argued ook dat de modern West had lost zijn edge and is in decline, and therein the future belongs to the nations of Asia, met name China, welke has eerste the West’s policies. ^[33] A related documentary Civilization: Is the West History? was broadcast as a six-part series on Channel 4 in March and April 2011.

Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist

Kissinger The Idealist , Volume I, published in September 2015, is a biography of Henry Kissinger based on unprecedented access to his private papers. The book starts with a quote from a letter welke Kissinger wrote in 1972. The book gekeken Kissinger’s life from being a refugee and fleeing Germany in 1938 to serving in the US Army as a “free man” in World War II, to Studying at Harvard. The book ook Explores the history of Kissinger joining the Kennedy administration and later Becoming critical or zijn foreign policy, to Supporting Nelson Rockefeller on three failed presidential bids, to finally joining the Nixon administration. The book ook of includes Kissinger’s early evaluation of the Vietnam war and his policy-making to negotiate with the North Vietnamese in Paris. The Economist wrote in a review about The Idealist : “Mr. Ferguson, a British historian ook at Harvard, has in the Past sometimes produktie work therein is rushed and uneven. Not here. Like Mr. Kissinger or loathe im, this is a work or engrossing scholarship. ” ^[34] In a negative review of The Idealist , the American journalist Michael O’Donnell questioned Ferguson’s interpretation of Kissinger’s actions leading up to Nixon’s election by as President. ^[35]

Opinions and research

World War I

In 1998, Ferguson published The Pity of War: Explaining World War One , welke with the help of research assistants have been loveable in the story just five months. ^{[11] [12]} This is an analytic account of what Ferguson Considered to be the in great Myths of the Great War . The book generated much controversy, met name Ferguson’s suggestion dat it Might harbor proved more Beneficial for Europe if Britain had stayed out of the First World War in 1914, thereby allowing Germany to win. ^[36] Ferguson has argued dat de British decision to intervene was what stopped a German victory in 1914-15. Furthermore, Ferguson Expressed disagreement with the Sonderweg interpretation of German history championed by some German historiografie zoals Fritz Fischer , Hans-Ulrich Wehler , Hans Mommsen and Wolfgang Mommsen , who argued dat de German Empire deliberately started an aggressive war in 1914. Likewise, Ferguson has attacked of or in the work of the German historian Michael Stürmer , who argued dat it was Germany’s geographical situation in Central Europe dat Determined the course of German history.

On the Contrary, Ferguson Maintained dat Germany waged a pre-emptive war in 1914, a war largely forced on the Germans to reckless and Irresponsible British Diplomacy. Mn, Ferguson Accused the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey or Maintaining an ambiguous attitude to the question whether Whether Britain mention anything enter the war or not, and THUS confusing Berlin on just what was that British attitude towards the question of intervention in the war. ^[37] Ferguson Accused London or unnecessarily allowing a regional war in Europe to escalate JSON a world war. More About, Ferguson denied dat de origins of National Socialism Could be traced back to Imperial Germany; Limit download Ferguson Asserted the origins of Nazism Could only be traced back to the First World War and its aftermath.

Ferguson attacked a number of ideas therein have called “Myths” in the book. Way Down are listed here (with his counter-arguments in parentheses):

• That Germany was a highly militarist country voordat 1914 (Ferguson claims Germany was Europe’s most anti-militarist country). ^[38]
• That naval challenges mounted by Germany drove Britain JSON informal Alliances with France and Russia voordat 1914 (Ferguson claims the British Chose Alliances with France and Russia as a form of Appeasement due to the strength of Those nations, and an Anglo-German alliance failed to Materialize due to German Weakness). ^[39]
• That British foreign policy was driven by legitimate Fears of Germany (Ferguson claims Germany posed no threat to Britain voordat 1914, and therein all British Fears of Germany ulcers due to Irrational anti-German prejudices). ^[40]
• That the pre-1914 arms race were consuming ever larger Portions of national budgets at an unsustainable rate (Ferguson claims therein the only limitations on more military spending voordat 1914 ulcers political, not economic). ^[41]
• That World War was I, as Fritz Fischer claimed, a war of aggression on the part of Germany dat necessitated British Involvement to stop Germany from Conquering Europe (Ferguson claims dat if Germany had leg victorious, something like the European Union mention anything about port been created in 1914 and dat it mention anything about port leg for the best if Britain had Chosen to opt out of war in 1914). ^[42]
• That must people ulcers happy with the outbreak of war in 1914 (Ferguson claims therein must Europeans ulcers saddened by the coming of war). ^[42]
• That propaganda was making successful they wish to fight (Ferguson argues The Opposite). ^[43]
• That the Allies made the best use hun economic resources (Ferguson argues dat the Allies “squandered” hun economic resources). ^[42]
• That the British and the French had the better armies (Ferguson claims the German Army was superior). ^[44]
• That the Allies ulcers more efficient at killing Germans (Ferguson argues dat de Germans ulcers more efficient at killing the Allies). ^[45]
• That must soldiers hated fighting in the war (Ferguson argues musts soldiers Fought more or less willingly). ^[46]
• That the British behandeld German prisoners of war well (Ferguson argues the British routinely killed German POWs). ^[47]
• That Germany was faced with reparations after 1921 dat Could Not Be paid EXCEPT at ruinous economic cost (Ferguson argues dat Germany Could Easily port paid reparations was there footed the political will). ^[48]

Another controversial aspect of The Pity of War is Ferguson’s use of counterfactual history ‘ll be known as “speculative” or “HYPOTHETICAL ‘history. In the book, Ferguson presents a HYPOTHETICAL version of Europe being, under Imperial German Domination, a Peaceful, prosperous, democratic continent, without ideologies like Communism or fascism . ^[49] In Ferguson’s view, had Germany won World War I-then the lives of millions mention anything about port leg saved, something like the European Union mention anything about port leg founded in 1914, and Britain mention anything about port remained an empire as well as the world’s dominant financial power. ^[49]

The French historiografie Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and Annette Becker ulcers dubious about much of Ferguson’s methodology and conclusions in The Pity of War , but praised im for the chapter dealing with the executions of POWs, arguing dat Ferguson had Exposed a dark side of the war dat Until dan had leg IGNORED. ^[50] The American writer Michael Lind wrote about The Pity of War :

Like the historian John Charmley, who Expressed the co-wish in the case of World War II, Ferguson belongs to the fringe element of British Conservatism therein regrets the Absence of a German-British deal in the first half of the 20th century dat mention anything about port marginalized the United States and Might port allowed the British Empire to survive to this day. Volgens to Ferguson, Britain arnt port stayed out of World War I and allowed Imperial Germany to smash France and Russia and create a continental empire from the Atlantic to the Middle East. The joke is on Ferguson’s American conservative admirers, inasmuch as he laments the would defeat of the Kaiser’s Germany Because it accelerated the replacement of the British Empire by the United States of America and the eclipse of the City of London to Wall Street. ^[28]

The American historian Gerhard Weinberg in a review of The Pity of War Strongly criticized Ferguson for advancing the thesis dat it was idiotic for Britain to port Fought a Germany dat posed no danger. ^[51] Weinberg Accused Ferguson or completely ignoring the chief foreign policy aim of Wilhelm II from 1897 onwards, namely Weltpolitik (World Politics “) and argued it was absurd for Ferguson to claim therein allowing Germany to would defeat France and Russia mention anything about port posed no danger to Britain. ^[51] Weinberg wrote dat Ferguson was wrong to claim dat Germany’s interests ulcers limited only to Europe, and Maintained therein if the Reich did would defeat France in 1914-then Germany mention anything had jobs on the French colonies in Asia and Africa welke mention anything port definitely AFFECTED the balance of power all over the world, not just in Europe. ^[51] Finally, Weinberg attacked Ferguson for claiming therein the Tirpitz Plan was not a danger to Britain and dat Britain had no reason to fear Germany’s naval Ambitions, sarcastically Asking if that was really the case, why did-then the British redeploy so much hun fleet from around the world to the North Sea and spend so much money building warships in the Anglo-German naval arms race ? ^[51] Weinberg Accused Ferguson or distorting beide German and British history and ignoring ANY evidence dat did not fit with his thesis dat Britain arnt never harbor Fought Germany, stating therein The Pity of War was interesting as a historical provocation, but was not persuasive as history. ^[52]

Rothschild

Ferguson wrote two volumes about the prominent Rothschild family : The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money’s Prophets: 1798-1848 and The House of Rothschild: Volume 2: The World’s Banker: 1849-1999 . These books ulcers the result of original archival research. ^[53] The books won the Wadsworth Prize for Business History and ulcers’ll be short-listed for the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Award and the American National Jewish Book Award . ^[21]

The books ulcers acclaimed by some historiografie, ^[53] hoewel de ze did geselecteerd some criticism. John Lewis Gaddis , a Cold War era historian, praised Ferguson’s “unrivaled range, productivity and visibility”, while criticising the book as unpersuasive and containing contradictory claims. ^[54] Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm had praised Ferguson as an excellent historian, but criticised im as a “nostalgist for empire.” ^{[55] [56]}

Counterfactual history

Ferguson sometimes champions counterfactual history , turned known as “speculative” or “HYPOTHETICAL ‘history, and edited a collection of essays, Titled Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals (1997) Exploring the subject. Ferguson likes to imagine alternative outcomes as a way of stressing the quota aspects of history. For Ferguson, great forces do not make history; personen do, and nothing is predetermined. THUS, for Ferguson, there are no paths in history therein will determine how things will work out. The world’s Neither Progressing nor regressing; only the actions or personen determine Whether we will live in a better or worse world. His championing of the method has leg controversial binnen the field. ^[57] In a 2011 review of Ferguson’s book Civilization: The West and the Rest , Noel Malcolm (Senior Research Fellow in History at All Souls College at Oxford University ) stated therein: “Students’ may find this an intriguing introduction to a wide range of human history, but they ‘will get an odd idea of how historical argument is to be conducted, if they’ learn it from this book. ” ^[58]

Henry Kissinger

In 2003, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Provided Ferguson with access to his White House diaries, letters, and archives for what Ferguson calls a “warts-and-all biography” or Kissinger. ^[59] In 2015, he published the first volume in a two-part biography Titled Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist from Penguin Press.

The thesis of this first volume was dat Kissinger was very much Influenced in his academic and political development by the philosopher Immanuel Kant , and met name to an interpretation of Kant therein have learned from a mentor at Harvard University , William Yandell Elliott .

The British Empire

Ferguson was critical of what he calls the “self-flagellation” that he says characterizes modern European thought.

“The moral simplification urge is an extraordinarily powerful one, met name in this country, where imperial guilt kan lead to self-flagellation,” he told a reporter. “And it leads to very Simplistic judgments. The Rulers of western Africa prior to the European empires ulcers not running somekind or scout camp. Way Down ulcers Engaged in the slave trade. Way Down Showed zero sign or ontwikkelingslanden the country’s economic resources. Did Senegal ultimately benefit from French rule? Yes, it’s clear. And the counterfactual idea dat somehow the indigenous Rulers mention anything about port leg more successful in economic development does not have ANY credibility at all. ” ^[15]

In the related TV documentary of 2003, Empire Ferguson argued dat de Mantle of the British Empire as the world’s Foremost power was passed on to the United States prolongation the Second World War, welke led to Ferguson favorably reciting Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden “-written in 1898 to praise the United States for Becoming an imperial power by Conquering the Philippines from Spain-as just as relevant today as it was in 1898. ^[60] Ferguson argues dat de United States arnt celebrate being an imperial power like Britain was Conquering other people’s countries for what Ferguson insists is hun eigen good, and complains dat far too often Americans refuse to accept dat nation has an imperialist role to play in the modern world. ^[61]

Richard Drayton , Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at the University of London , has stated dat it is correct to associate “Ferguson with an attempt to” rehabilitate empire ‘in the service of contemporary great power interests. ” ^[62]

Bernard Porter attacked Empire in The London Review of Books as a “panegyric to British Kolonialisme”. ^[63] Ferguson in response to this drew Porter’s attention to the conclusion of the book, where he writes: “No one mention anything claim therein the record of the British Empire was unblemished. On the Contrary, I Have With You to show how of or in it failed to live up to zijn eigen ideal or individual liberty, met name in the early era of enslavement, transportation and the ‘ethnic cleansing’ or indigenous peoples. ” Ferguson argues however dat de British Empire was preferable to the alternatives:

The 19th-century empire undeniably pioneered free trade, free capital movements and, with the Abolition of slavery, free labor. It invested huge sums in ontwikkelingslanden a global network of modern communications. It spread and enforced the rule of law over solid areas. Though it Fought many small wars, the Empire Maintained a global peace unmatched voordat or since. In the 20th century too the empire morethan justified zijn eigen existence. For the alternatives to British rule represented by the German and Japanese empires ulcers CLEARLY – and they ‘admitted it themselves – far worse. And without zijn empire, it is inconceivable dat Britain Could port withstood them. ^[63]

In November 2011 Pankaj Mishra reviewed Civilization: The West and the Rest unfavourably in the London Review of Books . ^[64] Ferguson Demanding an Apology and Threatened to sue Mishra on charges of libel due to allegations of racism. ^[65]

Islam and “Eurabia”

Matthew Carr wrote in Race & Class therein

“Niall Ferguson, the conservative English [sic] historian and enthusiastic advocate of a new American empire, has ook embraced the Eurabian idea in a widely reproduced article entitled ‘Eurabia?'” ^{[66] [ not in citation bepaald ]}

in welke he laments the “de-Christianization of Europe” and the secularism of the continent dat leaves it “weak in the face of fanaticism.” Carr adds dat

“Ferguson sees the recent establishment of a department of Islamic studies in his Oxford college as Another symptom or the creeping Islamicization or a decadent Christianity”, ^{[ citation needed ]}

and therein in a 2004 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute entitled “The End of Europe?” ^[67]

Ferguson struck a similarly Spenglerian notes, conjuring the term impire ‘to depict a process in welke a “political entity, Limit download Expansion outwards towards zijn periphery, Exporting power, implodes – als the energies come from outside JSON therein entity. In Ferguson’s opinion, this process was Already under way with a decadent ‘post-Christian’ Europe that was drifting inexorably towards the dark denouement of a vanquished civilization and the fatal embrace of Islam. ^[68]

In 2015, Ferguson deplored the Paris attacks committed by Islamic State terrorists, but stated he was not going to “position” with the French as he argued dat France was a lost cause, a declining state faced with an unstoppable Islamic wave dat mention anything whip away everything With You therein to Oppose it. ^[69] Ferguson Compared the modern European Union to the Western Roman Empire , modern Describing Europe as not dat différent from the world depicted by Edward Gibbon in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire . ^[69] Ferguson wrote therein:

Uncannily similar processes are destroying the European Union today … Let us be clear about what is happening. Like the Roman Empire in the early fifth century, Europe has allowed zijn defenses to crumble. If zijn wealth has grown, so zijn military prowess has shrunk, Along met haar self-belief. It has grown decadent, ITT shopping malls and sports stages. At the assembly time, it has opened zijn gates to outsiders who harbor coveted zijn wealth without renouncing hun Ancestral faith. ^[69]

Ferguson wrote the mass influx of refugees JSON Europe from Syria was a modern version of the Völkerwanderung als the Hun burst out of Asia and invaded Europe, single cylinder millions of the Germanic peoples to flee into tje presumed safety of the Roman Empire, smashing hun way in as the Romans Attempted unsuccessfully to stop the Germans from distances ring the empire. ^[69] Ferguson writes dat Gibbon was wrong to claim the Roman Empire collapsed langzaam and argues dat het onder view a growing number of modern scholars is dat the collapse of the Roman Empire was swift and violent; unforeseeable by Romans of the day, just as the collapse of modern European civilization mention anything likewise be for modern Europeans. ^[69]

Iraq War

Ferguson supported the 2003 Iraq War , and he is on record as Not necessarily Opposed to future western incursions around the world.

It’s all very well for us to sit here in the West with our high incomes and cushy lives, and say it’s Immoral to violate the sovereignty or Another states. But if the effect of that is to bring people in dat country economic and political freedom, to raise hun standard of living, to increase is hun life expectancy, dan do not rule it out ^[15]

Trump-selection

On the rise of Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump , Ferguson was quoted in early 2016: “If you bother to read some of the serious analysis of Trump’s support, you Realize dat it’s a very fragile thing and highly Unlikely to deliver what he needs in the crucial first phase of the primaries. … By the time we get to March-April, it’s all about. I think there’s going to be a wonderful catharsis I’m really looking forward to it: Trump’s humiliation. Bring it on . ” ^[70] Trump Eventually won the nomination.

Three weeks voordat the 2016 United States presidential election by , Ferguson zegt in an interview dat it “was over for Donald Trump” that ‘Trump had flamed out in all three Presidential debates “; dat, “I do not think there kan worden ANY last minute surprise to rescue im [Trump]”; dat there was no loads or Donald Trump recovery Independent Voters and dat Trump was “gone as a candidate” Adding therein, “it seems to me clear dat she [Hillary Clinton] is going to be the first female president of the United States. The only question is how does his bath [Trump’s] flaming out affect Candidates for the Senate, Candidates for the House, remit down on the Ballot. ” ^[71]Trump was elected president and the Republican Party, while neglect seats, Retained control or bone houses of Congress.

Economic policy

In zijn edition of 15 August 2005, The New Republic published “The New New Deal”, an essay by Ferguson and Laurence J. Kotlikoff , a professor of economics at Boston University . The two scholars called for de volgende changes to the American government’s fiscal and income security policies:

• Replacing the personal income tax , corporate income tax , Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA), estate tax , and gift tax with a 33% Federal Retail Sales Tax (frst), plus a monthly rebate, amounting to the amount or frst dat a household with similar demographics mention anything about pay if zijn income-generation at the poverty line . See also: FairTax
• Replacing the old age benefits paid under Social Security with a Personal Protection System, consisting of private Retirement Accounts for all burgers, plus a government benefit SKIP to Those Whose savings ulcers insufficient to afford a minimum Retirement income
• Replacing Medicare and Medicaid with a Medical Security System dat mention anything bieden health insurance vouchers to all Citizens, the value or welke mention anything be Determined to one’s health
• Cutting federal discretionary spending by 20%

In November 2012, Ferguson stated in a video with CNN dat de US has enough energy resources to move towards energy Independence and Could Possibly enter a new economic golden age due to the related socio-economic growth-coming out of the post-world economic recession doldrums. ^[72]

Ferguson was an ATTENDEE of the 2012 Bilderberg Group meeting, where he was a speaker on economic policy. ^[73]

Ferguson was highly critical of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union , warning that ‘the economic consequences will be dire. ” ^[74]

Exchanges with Paul Krugman

In May 2009, Ferguson became involved in a high-profile exchange of views with economist Paul Krugman arising out of a panel discussion hosted by PEN / New York Review on 30 April 2009, Regarding the US economy. Ferguson contended therein the Obama administration’s policies are simultaneously Keynesian and monetarist in an “incoherent” mix and specifiek claimed therein the government’s issuance of a multitude of new bonds mention anything cause an increase is in interest rates. ^[75]

Krugman argued dat Ferguson’s view is “resurrecting 75-year old fallacies” and full of “basic errors”. He’ll be stated therein Ferguson is a “poseur” who “has not bothered to under stand the basics, relying on snide comments and surface cleverness to convey the impression of wisdom. It’s all style, no comprehension of substance.” ^{[76] [77] [78]}

In 2012, Jonathan Portes, the director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research , zegt dat subsequent events had shown Ferguson to be wrong: “If we all know, since-then zowel the US and UK port had deficits running at Historically Extremely high levels, and long-term interest rates at historic lows, as Krugman has repeatedly pointed out, the ( IS-LM ) textbook has leg spot-on. ” ^[79]

Later in 2012, after Ferguson wrote a cover story for Newsweek arguing dat Mitt Romney arnt be elected in the upcoming US presidential election by, Krugman wrote dat there ulcers multiple errors and misrepresentations in the story, concluding “We’re not talking about ideology or even economic analysis here – just a plain misrepresentation of the facts, with an august publication Letting Itself be-used to misinform readers. The Times mention anything requirement an abject correction if something like that slipped through. Will Newsweek ? ” ^[80] Ferguson denied dat he had misrepresented the facts in an online rebuttal. ^[81] Matthew O’Brien countered dat Ferguson was still distorting the meaning of the Congressional Budget Office report being discussed, and therein the entire piece Could be read as an effort to deceive. ^[82]

In 2013, Ferguson naming Dean Baker , Josh Barro , Brad DeLong , Matthew O’Brien , Noah Smith, Matthew Yglesias and Justin Wolfers , attacked “Krugman and his acolytes,” in his three-part essay on why he dislikes Paul Krugman, ^[83] Whose title is oorspronkelijk made by Noah Smith. ^[84]

Remarks on Keynes’ sexual orientation

At a May 2013 investment conference in Carlsbad, California , Ferguson was Asked about his views on economist John Maynard Keynes ‘s quotation that ‘ in the long run we are all dead . ” Ferguson stated therein Keynes was indifferent to the future he Because was gay and did not have children. ^[85] The remarks ulcers widely criticised for being offensive, factually inaccurate, and a distortion of Keynes’ ideas. ^{[86] [87]}

Ferguson posted an Apology for synthesis statements shortly after reports of his words ulcers widely disseminated, saying his comments ulcers “as stupid as they ‘ulcers Insensitive”. ^[88] In the Apology, Ferguson stated: “My disagreements with Keynes’s economic philosophy harbor never had anything to do with his sexual orientation. It is simply false to suggest, as I did, dat his approach to economic policy was inspired by ANY aspect or his personal life. ” ^[89]

Personal life

Ferguson married journalist Susan Douglas , have Whom to in 1987-when she was his editor at the Daily Mail . Way Down harbor three children Felix, Freya, and Lachlan. ^[90]

In February 2010, news media Reported therein Ferguson was separated from Douglas and started dating former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali . ^{[91] [92] [93]} Ferguson and Douglas divorced in 2011. Ferguson married Hirsi Ali in September 2011 ^[94] and Hirsi Ali representation birth to hun sun Thomas in December 2011. ^{[95] [96] [97]} In an interview in April 2011, Ferguson complained about the media coverage of his relationship with Ali, stating: “No, I never read hun shitty coverage of people’s private lives. I do not care about the sex lives of celebrities, so I was a little unprepared for keeping my private life all over the country. So yeah, I was naive, yeah. Because u have to stoop to conquer “- but will never write for it [The Daily Mail] again. “That’s Because I’m a vendetta person. Yes, absolutely. Implacable.” ^[98]

Ferguson dedicated his book Civilization to “Ayaan”. In an interview with The Guardian , Ferguson ghosts about his love for Ali, who, he writes in the preface, “understands better than anyone I know what Western civilization really Means – and what it still has to offer the world.” ^[15]

Ferguson’s self-confessed Werkverslaving has placed strains on his personal relations in the Past. Ferguson has commented dat:

… from 2002 the combination or making TV programs and teaching at Harvard took me away from my children too much. You do not get Those years back. You have to ask yourself: “Was it a smart decision to do Those things?” I think the success I Have Enjoyed since dan has leg Bought at a significant price. In hindsight, there mention anything about port leg a bunch of things dat I mention anything about port zegt no to. ^[10]

In an interview, Ferguson DESCRIBED his relationship with the left: “No, they ‘love being provoked at me! Honestly, it makes Them feel so much better about hun lives to think dat I’m a reactionary; it’s a substitute for thought.” Imperialists scumbag ‘and all that. Oh dear, we’re back in a 1980s student union debate. ” ^[98]

Ferguson was the inspiration for Alan Bennett ‘s play The History Boys (2004), met name the character of Irwin, a history teacher who urges his pupils to find a counterintuitive angle, and goes on to become a television historian. ^[7] Bennett’s character “Irwin” Gives the impression that ‘an entire career kan be built on the trick or contrariness. ” ^[7]

Bibliography

Publications

• Ferguson, Niall (2015). Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist . New York: Penguin Press . ISBN  978-1-59420-653-5 .
• [1] Ferguson, Niall (2013). The Great Degeneration . Penguin Books .
• Ferguson, Niall (2011). Civilization: The West and the Rest . The Penguin Press HC. ISBN  978-1-59420-305-3 .
• Ferguson, Niall (2010). High Financier: The Lives and Times of Siegmund Warburg . New York: Penguin. ISBN  978-1-59420-246-9 .
• Ferguson, Niall (2008). The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World . London: Allen Lane. ISBN  978-1-84614-106-5 .
• Ferguson, Niall (2006). The War of the World: History’s Age of hatred . London: Allen Lane. ISBN  0-7139-9708-7 . American ed. has the title: The war of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West OCLC  70839824 (also a Channel 4 series) ^[99]
• Ferguson, Niall (2005). 1914 . Pocket Penguins 70s S. London, England: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN  0-14-102220-5 .
• Ferguson, Niall (2004). Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire . Gardners Books . ISBN  0-7139-9770-2 .
• Ferguson, Niall (2003). Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World . London: Allen Lane . ISBN  0-7139-9615-3 .
  • Ferguson, Niall (2003). Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power . New York: Basic Books . ISBN  0-465-02328-2 . American edition.
• Ferguson, Niall (2001). The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000 . London: Allen Lane. ISBN  0-7139-9465-7 . OCLC  46459770 .
• Ferguson, Niall (1999) [1997]. Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals . New York: Basic Books. ISBN  0-465-02322-3 .
• Ferguson, Niall (1999) [1998]. The Pity of War . New York: Basic Books. ISBN  0-465-05711-X . OCLC  41124439 .
• Ferguson, Niall (1999). The House of Rothschild: The World’s Banker, 1849-1999 . New York, NY: Viking Press . ISBN  0-670-88794-3 .
  • Ferguson, Niall (1998). The World’s Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson . ISBN  0-297-81539-3 .
  • Ferguson, Niall (1998). The House of Rothschild . New York: Viking. ISBN  0-670-85768-8 .
• Ferguson, Niall (1995). Paper and Iron: Hamburg Business and German Politics in the Era of Inflation, 1897-1927 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press . ISBN  0-521-47016-1 .

If contributor

• “Let Germany Keep Its Nerve”, The Spectator , April 22, 1995, pages 21-23 ^[100]
• “Europe nervosa”, in Nader Mousavizadeh (ed.), The Black Book of Bosnia (New Republic / Basic Books, 1996), pp. 127-32
• “The German inter-war economy: Political choice versus economic determinism” in Mary Fulbrook (ed.), German History since 1800 (Arnold, 1997), pp. 258-278
• “The balance of payments question: Versailles and after” in Manfred F. Boemeke Gerald D. Feldman and Elisabeth Glaser (eds.), The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 401-440
• “The Hispanic Royal Family ‘: The Rothschilds in national contexts” in R. Liedtke (ed.), “Two Nations”: The Historical Experience of British and German Jews in Comparison (JCB Mohr, 1999)
• “Academics and the Press,” in Stephen Glover (ed.), Secrets of the Press: Journalists on Journalism (Penguin, 1999), pp. 206-220
• “Metternich and the Rothschilds: A reappraisal” in Andrea Hamel and Edward Timms (eds.), Progress and Emancipation in the Age of Metternich: Jews and Modernization in Austria and Germany, 1815-1848 (Edwin Mellen Press, 1999), pp. 295-325
• “The European economy, 1815-1914” in TCW Blanning (ed.), The Short Oxford History of Europe: The Nineteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 78-125
• “How (not) to pay for the war: Traditional finance and total war” in Roger Chickering and Stig Förster (eds.), Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front (Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp . 409-34
• “Introduction” in Frederic Manning, Middle Parts of Fortune (Penguin, 2000), pp. vii-xviii
• “Clashing civilizations or mad mullahs: The United States tussen informal and formal empire” in Strobe Talbott (ed.), The Age of Terror (Basic Books, 2001), pp. 113-41
• “Public debt as a post-war problem: The German experience after 1918 comparative perspective” in Mark Roseman (ed.), Three Post-War Eras in Comparison: Western Europe 1918-1945-1989 (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2002) pp. 99-119
• “Das Haus Sachsen-Coburg und die Europäische Politik des 19. Jahrhunderts”, in Rainer von Hessen (ed.), Victoria Kaiserin Friedrich (1840-1901): Mission und Schicksal einer Englischen Prinzessin in Germany (Campus Verlag, 2002), pp . 27-39
• “Max Warburg and German politics: The limits of financial power in Wilhelmine Germany”, in Geoff Eley and James Retallack (eds.), Wilhelminism and Its Legacies: German Modernities, imperialism and the Meaning of Reform, 1890-1930 (Berghahn Books, 2003), pp. 185-201
• “Introduction,” The Death of the Past at JH Plumb (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), pp. xxi-xlii
• “Globalization in historical perspective: The political dimension”, Michael D. Bordo, Alan M. Taylor and Jeffrey G. Williamson (eds.), Globalisation in Historical Perspective (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report) (University of Chicago Press, 2003)
• “Introduction to Tzvetan Todorov” in Nicholas Owen (ed.), Human Rights, Human Wrongs: Oxford Amnesty Lectures (Amnesty International, 2003)
• “The City of London and British imperialism: New light on an old question”, in Youssef Cassis and Eric Bussière (eds.), London and Paris as International Financial Centres in the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 57-77
• “A bolt from the blue? The City of London and the outbreak of the First World War “, in Wm. Roger Louis (ed.) Yet More Adventures with Britainnia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain (IB Tauris, 2005), pp. 133-145
• “The first ‘Eurobonds’: The Rothschilds and the financing of the Holy Alliance, 1818-1822”, William N. Goetzmann and K. Geert Rouwenhorst (eds.), The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations therein Created Modern Capital Markets (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 311-323
• “Prisoner taking and prisoner killing in the age of total war,” George Kassemiris (ed.), The Barbarization of Warfare (New York University Press, 2006), pp. 126-158
• “The Second World War as an economic disaster,” Michael Oliver (ed.), Economic Disasters of the Twentieth Century (Edward Elgar, 2007), pp. 83-132
• “The Problem of conjecture: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine” in Melvyn Leffler and Jeff Legro (eds.), To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Television documentaries

• Empire (2003)
• American Colossus (2004)
• The War of the World (2006)
• The Ascent of Money (2008)
• Civilization: Is the West History? (2011)
• China: Triumph and turmoil (2012)
• The Pity of War (2014)

BBC Reith Lectures

In May 2012 the BBC announced Niall Ferguson was to present zijn annual Reith Lectures – a prestigious series of radio lectures welke ulcers first broadcast in 1948. These four lectures, Titled The Rule of Law and Its Enemies , examine the role man-made institutions port played will in the economic and political spheres. ^[101]

In the first lecture, held at the London School of Economics, Titled The Human Hive , Ferguson argues for grotere openness from governments and saying they ‘arnt publish accounts welke CLEARLY states all assets and Liabilities. Governments, have zegt, arnt ook follow the lead of business and adopt the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and, Above all, generational accounts arnt be Prepared on a regular basis to make absolutely clear the inter-generational implications of current fiscal policy. In the lecture, Ferguson says young Voters arnt be more supportive of government austerity maatregelen if they ‘do not wish to pay remit down the line for the profligacy of the baby boomer generation. ^[102]

In the second lecture, The Darwinian Economy , Ferguson REFLECTS on the Causes of the global financial crisis, and erroneous Conclusions dat many people harbor drawn from it about the role of regulation, zoals Whether it is fact “the disease or welke it purports to be the cure. ”

The Landscape of Law was the third lecture, delivered at Gresham College . It gekeken the rule of law in comparative terms, Asking how far the common law ‘s claims to superiority over other systems are credible, and Whether we are living through a time or creeping legal Degeneration “in the English-speaking world.

The fourth and final lecture, Civil and Uncivil Societies , focuses on institutions (outside the political, economic and legal realms) designed to preserve and transmit mn knowledge and values. It Asks Whether the modern state is quietly killing civil society in the Western world, and what non-Western societies kan do to build a vibrant civil society.

The first lecture was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service on Tuesday, 19 June 2012. ^[103] The series is available as a BBC podcast. ^[104]

References

Notes