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

nThe modern world is built on commodities - from the oil that fuels our cars to the metals that power our smartphones. nWe rarely stop to consider where they have come from. But we should. n nIn The World for Sale, two leading journalists lift the lid on one of the least scrutinised corners of the world economy: the workings of the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources. n nIt 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. n nAnd 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 western nsanctions. n nThe 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. nn