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

I have the paperback which is 328 pages not including acknowledgements and footnotes. If you're interested in the global trade in oil, minerals and grains, this book gives an excellent introduction, with the principal focus on oil. The Introduction is entitled "The Last Swashbucklers" and the Conclusion is entitled "A Lot of Skeletons." This gives a good sense of the book's thrust, an ethos of "how can I make really, really large amounts of money" without worrying about the consequences to third parties. Sometimes those consequences could be helpful and sometimes not. The book elaborates on both with the emphasis on the political effects of trading, which has the effect of propping up all sorts of political elites, some you may like and some you may not. The first roughly 1/3rd of the book details the rise and fall of Marc Rich, who started his career at Philipp Brothers, but left to go his own way in a dispute over how much he should be paid. Marc Rich was a colorful figure who, for a while, exercised a lot of power over the oil market. Mr. Rich's downfall led to the creation of several major trading houses. The book discusses this. Glencore, Vitol, and Trafigura are successors to Marc Rich and they operated as swashbucklers too. They traded in other commodities besides oil and the book looks at some of these trades as well. According to the authors, much of the success of the traders came from superior information gleaned from having people and offices in many nooks and crannies of the world that many "respectable" companies didn't have. Even with superior information sources, the traders were still gambling and their gambles, at times, didn't pay off. But many times their trades did pay off and spectacularly so. The authors also elaborate on how for much of the time the traders had no real governmental regulation. They operated globally and made their own rules. The rise of China as an economic power in the 1980s through the early 2010s enabled many very profitable trades for these global players. The book finishes with a review of some of the changes that have diminished, but not eliminated, the power of these global players. China, and others, began to set up their own trading arms to go around the Glencore, Vitol, etc., grip on trading. China also has had its own economic challenges. The US and Europe have begun to exercise some regulatory authority over the traders and information, with the internet has become more widely available, all of which has eroded the edge of the traders, but I don't think they're going away. If the subject interests you, I recommend the book highly. It's highly readable and I got through on a part-time basis in a few days.

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.

Trading companies, personalities, insights into how this has worked and all that has accommodated the business — post WW2, recent past, and outlook for future, the book was beyond interesting.

Beautiful

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.

Informative book on an area about which I knew nothing. Frightening to learn how a few rogue individuals control so much that affects us all.

Good book. The story flows well, overlaps in parts (which is unavoidable). It kept my interest until the end. I didn't know much about commodities trading before reading this. I would like to read future book by the authors.

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.

Muito bem escrito e descrito. Traz muitas informações sobre este mundo das tradings mundo afora, além de histórias interessantíssimas!

When I was 16, a dear school friend first told me about Marc Rich. This book taught me everything about him, the CRAZY, INSANE world of Commodity trading & the MAD people who operate in this realm. This book is like a DEEP Gold mine? (I've never been in one). Once you get in, you have no clue where you are & getting out takes hours. It is an exhausting read but amazingly informative. Why you must read: - A (terrifying) reminder of how morals & ethics can evaporate when Profits & Business opportunities become irresistible. - The incessant energy of entrepreneurs & their undying will to succeed. - How Nations were saved & manipulated by commodity traders. - This book taught me what I would (personally) NEVER do in business. - Quotes: - Marc Rich + Co made so much money in the oil crisis of 1979 that it would have ranked as one of America’s 10 most profitable companies. - The Cargill family contains 14 billionaires – more than any other family in the world. - X would fly 1st class, booking a full row of seats to keep with him several large suitcases full of paperwork that he always carried with him everywhere. - "Always have something to sell." - The Dutch were wonderful, but they didn’t want to work outside nine to five. That ruled them out quite quickly. - Walking into Glencore’s headquarters at 8.30 a.m. would get you a sarcastic ‘good afternoon’ greeting :) - By the mid-2000s, Africa had become a place where the commodities that no one else wanted could be disposed of. - ‘It’s a business that shouldn’t be public,’ - PepsiCo briefly became one of the world’s largest naval powers when it agreed that, in exchange for the Pepsi it was selling to the Soviet Union, it would be paid with 17 Soviet submarines, a cruiser, a frigate and a destroyer. :) Must read (5-6 hours minimum)

Great read. Very insightful.

Muy buen libro para entender la historia de los "Traders"

Great book, maybe the best about commodity thematic.