For anybody who has recalculated his net worth recently and recoiled in horror from the screen and asked the question–“How did we get in this mess anyway?”—, there are some answers to be found in Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money. It is, in fact, the book you wish you’d read a year ago.

In August 2007, a Russian submersible placed a titanium marker depicting the nation's flag on the seabed at the North Pole. It was a declaration of sovereignty. In Canada, the reaction was muted. By international agreement, competing claims were to be decided by negotiation under the auspices of the UN.