Brendan Greeley
@bhgreeley.bsky.social
PhD candidate in the history of finance at Princeton. Working on early-modern Atlantic currencies. Writing a trade-press history of the dollar and a dissertation about the guinea. I used to be a journalist. I used to be a lot of things.
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Brendan Greeley
@bhgreeley.bsky.social
· Aug 10
The Almighty Dollar by Brendan Greeley: 9780593138885 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
In this ambitious and groundbreaking history of the dollar, financial journalist and economic scholar Brendan Greeley makes a new argument about the origins of our money—and the people and nations...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
I just got a nice note from a stranger saying he'd pre-ordered my book, The Almighty Dollar. That is how I found out my book, The Almighty Dollar, is available for pre-order. Please pre-order my book, The Almighty Dollar. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634502...
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
Don't call it a "bubble."
OpenAI, Microsoft, & Alphabet are just fine with that term because they get to tell you that all the dot-com bubble or the railroad bubble or the whatever bubble was, was a shaking out the greats after an intense period of mania. This isn't a bubble. This is a time bomb.
OpenAI, Microsoft, & Alphabet are just fine with that term because they get to tell you that all the dot-com bubble or the railroad bubble or the whatever bubble was, was a shaking out the greats after an intense period of mania. This isn't a bubble. This is a time bomb.
Opinion from Alphaville: OpenAI is a money pit with a website on top. That much we know already, but since OpenAI is a private company, there’s a lot of guesswork required when estimating the depth of the pit. on.ft.com/44xy39L
November 26, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Don't call it a "bubble."
OpenAI, Microsoft, & Alphabet are just fine with that term because they get to tell you that all the dot-com bubble or the railroad bubble or the whatever bubble was, was a shaking out the greats after an intense period of mania. This isn't a bubble. This is a time bomb.
OpenAI, Microsoft, & Alphabet are just fine with that term because they get to tell you that all the dot-com bubble or the railroad bubble or the whatever bubble was, was a shaking out the greats after an intense period of mania. This isn't a bubble. This is a time bomb.
Everyone, the cat named Tarragon is not real tarragon and is off limits for Thanksgiving
My cat is called Tarragon. He is not available in grocery shops.
November 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Everyone, the cat named Tarragon is not real tarragon and is off limits for Thanksgiving
I am absolutely thrilled that my children will finally have to start reading all the cookbooks I bought
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I am absolutely thrilled that my children will finally have to start reading all the cookbooks I bought
Exactly. www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
November 25, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Exactly. www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
There is still tarragon in grocery stores. If you need tarragon, remember to go get it today.
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
There is still tarragon in grocery stores. If you need tarragon, remember to go get it today.
Yesterday I helped a student with a poorly structured essay full of good ideas. I was so happy to. She did the work, and anyone can learn the basics of paragraph structure. It also made me a little sad. AI has made a lot of students scared to write poorly, so they don’t write at all.
November 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Yesterday I helped a student with a poorly structured essay full of good ideas. I was so happy to. She did the work, and anyone can learn the basics of paragraph structure. It also made me a little sad. AI has made a lot of students scared to write poorly, so they don’t write at all.
The governing rule of the American economy is that we can't have anything unless it's something a technology company needs.
Amazon’s X-energy gets backing from Jane Street as investors bet big on nuclear on.ft.com/49DtgHk
Amazon’s X-energy gets backing from Jane Street as investors bet big on nuclear
Reactor developer closes fundraising round as markets expect atomic energy will power the AI boom
on.ft.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
The governing rule of the American economy is that we can't have anything unless it's something a technology company needs.
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
Ukraine’s dollar debts - geared to a post-war recovery - are trading like this peace plan will move forward. Ukraine’s 2029 bonds are now 72 cents on the dollar, or highest since the last big Trump peace trade in February; Ukraine’s GDP warrants are at a new post-invasion high of 91 cents.
November 24, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Ukraine’s dollar debts - geared to a post-war recovery - are trading like this peace plan will move forward. Ukraine’s 2029 bonds are now 72 cents on the dollar, or highest since the last big Trump peace trade in February; Ukraine’s GDP warrants are at a new post-invasion high of 91 cents.
[Stares into the middle distance, contemplating the sprawling, 500-year history of the dollar he has just completed.]
This was the first If Books Could Kill podcast I listened to, and it was phenomenal.
It's not jus a good takedown of one book, but it's a good takedown of this entire genre of "sprawling history of the world" type books.
Think it nails two critical points that plague all punditry.
It's not jus a good takedown of one book, but it's a good takedown of this entire genre of "sprawling history of the world" type books.
Think it nails two critical points that plague all punditry.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
November 22, 2025 at 7:31 PM
[Stares into the middle distance, contemplating the sprawling, 500-year history of the dollar he has just completed.]
I am printing this and passing it out to my students this week
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I am printing this and passing it out to my students this week
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
An interview with a historian who set out to weave a textile of the type that would have been sold to plantations for use by enslaved people, using period equipment.
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving - Public Books
“But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”
www.publicbooks.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:25 AM
An interview with a historian who set out to weave a textile of the type that would have been sold to plantations for use by enslaved people, using period equipment.
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
I got married outside, on a beautiful day in late May. After the service my father, a career Marine officer, pulled me aside and said “You need to get the troops out of the sun.” This is a great thread; military leadership axioms often boil down to meticulous care for the people around you.
Here it is. Advice for leaders, random notes and hard lessons learned during nearly 3 decades in uniform. In this version, I will try and make more applicable to other professions. None of this is rocket science, and most of it is ripped off from mentors and colleagues.
November 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I got married outside, on a beautiful day in late May. After the service my father, a career Marine officer, pulled me aside and said “You need to get the troops out of the sun.” This is a great thread; military leadership axioms often boil down to meticulous care for the people around you.
STOP TELLING PEOPLE
real ones know there is only one correct way to travel from NYC to DC (Amtrak northeast regional cafe car)
Q: Why did you fly here? Aren't trains greener?
MAMDANI: I will use every form of transit and I want to make sure they are all affordable in NYC
TRUMP: That's a lot quicker too, in all fairness. I'll stick up for you.
MAMDANI: I will use every form of transit and I want to make sure they are all affordable in NYC
TRUMP: That's a lot quicker too, in all fairness. I'll stick up for you.
November 22, 2025 at 3:14 AM
STOP TELLING PEOPLE
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
The game show audience is already howling as I hit the button and chants along as each word of my giant IS THAT GOOD sign illuminates
November 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The game show audience is already howling as I hit the button and chants along as each word of my giant IS THAT GOOD sign illuminates
Now is that time in the life of a book when I email everyone I've ever met and ask for favors. If I am asking you for a favor: I'm sorry. And also please. And if I am not asking you for a favor HAHA IT'S A TRAP because I'm going to ask you to buy it. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634502...
The Almighty Dollar by Brendan Greeley: 9780593138885 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
In this ambitious and groundbreaking history of the dollar, financial journalist and economic scholar Brendan Greeley makes a new argument about the origins of our money—and the people and nations...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Now is that time in the life of a book when I email everyone I've ever met and ask for favors. If I am asking you for a favor: I'm sorry. And also please. And if I am not asking you for a favor HAHA IT'S A TRAP because I'm going to ask you to buy it. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634502...
Oh good, we're talking about credit default swaps, that always ends well
“.. All eyes on $ORCL as its CDS prices have tripled as the database giant becomes a barometer for AI risk and draws skeptics looking for a hedge. CDX IG vs ORCL CDS Spread.”
- GS desk
- GS desk
November 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Oh good, we're talking about credit default swaps, that always ends well
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
The wildest part of being a historian is how many historical sidequests you have to do to explain things thoroughly. Like, why am I learning the holding capacity and hull classification of Squier-class transport ships? Why do I know how many people got the flu in 1946???
November 20, 2025 at 10:09 PM
The wildest part of being a historian is how many historical sidequests you have to do to explain things thoroughly. Like, why am I learning the holding capacity and hull classification of Squier-class transport ships? Why do I know how many people got the flu in 1946???
I had a similar conversation with one of my students. The history majors are adamantly against AI because they know how dangerous it is. The other majors not so much.
Cute thing from a non-major in my history class:
"All the history majors are SO against AI! It's given me a lot to think about. All the other people in my major love it, and it's given me a new perspective."
(one reason it's good to ask my students what they think about it!)
"All the history majors are SO against AI! It's given me a lot to think about. All the other people in my major love it, and it's given me a new perspective."
(one reason it's good to ask my students what they think about it!)
November 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I had a similar conversation with one of my students. The history majors are adamantly against AI because they know how dangerous it is. The other majors not so much.
Oh no now I have to move to Toledo
The American Numismatic Society’s collections of coins will be relocating from Manhattan to the spacious campus of the Toledo Museum of Art. The $20 million plan, to be completed in 2028, would make possible its long-harbored vision of a state-of-the-art money museum.
After 167 Years in New York, a Priceless Coin Collection Heads to Toledo
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Oh no now I have to move to Toledo
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
I feel like the left more broadly wants economists to say that the economy is in shambles right now and the current "eh, I mean it is deteriorating but pretty slowly so far" is not satisfying
November 20, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I feel like the left more broadly wants economists to say that the economy is in shambles right now and the current "eh, I mean it is deteriorating but pretty slowly so far" is not satisfying
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
V good.
If you’re writing for a general audience - rather than academics - then I reckon suggestions of further reading (with a mix of popular and academic pieces) is a lot more helpful than a traditional bibliography.
If you’re writing for a general audience - rather than academics - then I reckon suggestions of further reading (with a mix of popular and academic pieces) is a lot more helpful than a traditional bibliography.
In #AHAPerspectives, Rhiannon Garth Jones and Matthew Gabriele argue for moving away from the traditional bibliography in trade books and toward something more conversational to engage with the wider public. 🗃️
Bibliographies for the People – AHA
Embracing alternative citation help the public better engage with trade history books.
www.historians.org
November 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
V good.
If you’re writing for a general audience - rather than academics - then I reckon suggestions of further reading (with a mix of popular and academic pieces) is a lot more helpful than a traditional bibliography.
If you’re writing for a general audience - rather than academics - then I reckon suggestions of further reading (with a mix of popular and academic pieces) is a lot more helpful than a traditional bibliography.
Turns out you can try really, really hard and still not screw up a massive resilient consumer-driven economy.
WMT beat and raise...hard to be too worried about the consumer with this result.
*WALMART 3Q ADJ EPS 62C, EST. 60C
*WALMART 3Q TOTAL US COMP SALES EX-GAS +4.4%, EST. +4%
*WMT SEES FY SALES EX-FX +4.8% TO +5.1%, SAW +3.75% TO +4.75%
*WALMART SEES FY ADJ EPS $2.58 TO $2.63, SAW $2.52 TO $2.62
*WALMART 3Q ADJ EPS 62C, EST. 60C
*WALMART 3Q TOTAL US COMP SALES EX-GAS +4.4%, EST. +4%
*WMT SEES FY SALES EX-FX +4.8% TO +5.1%, SAW +3.75% TO +4.75%
*WALMART SEES FY ADJ EPS $2.58 TO $2.63, SAW $2.52 TO $2.62
November 20, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Turns out you can try really, really hard and still not screw up a massive resilient consumer-driven economy.
Reposted by Brendan Greeley
That’s not an insignificant amount
Investors pull record $523 million from BlackRock's flagship bitcoin ETF reut.rs/44kcl97
Investors pull record $523 million from BlackRock's flagship bitcoin ETF
Investors pulled roughly $523 million from BlackRock's flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust on Tuesday, according to data from Farside Investors, marking the fund's largest single-day withdrawal since its launch.
reut.rs
November 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
That’s not an insignificant amount