# Debt by David Graeber

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Debt by David Graeber and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a readable economic history of credit and money across societies, arguing debt preceded coinage. Critics say its facts and sourcing are weak.

## Why people recommend it

- Explains debt's role in history (3 comments): "It is an economic history of the world that deals with the use of credit and bullion in different societies during history." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46397056)) "a wonderful book about the history of economy, demonstrating how it always boils down to effective use of debt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052312)) "some really interesting analysis, including how debt almost always preceded hard currency in early societies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49782254))
- Alternative to mainstream economics (3 comments): "read "Debt, the first 5000 years" by Graeber for, finally, a non- "Chicago school of economics" take on the history of trade" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46346625)) "observes that there’s no documented case of a society that ran mainly on barter and then invented money to escape it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50088439)) "As a much better alternative, I would recommend "debt" by david graeber, which is amazing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520603))
- Fascinating, philosophical, well argued (3 comments): "I found it a fascinating read (I mean that genuinely), and very educational with regard to this claim in particular." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50300383)) "Debt made stronger cases on average, and was more philosophical" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46522716)) "I cannot recommend reading this book enough." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49714255))
- Good reading on money history (3 comments): "I recommend David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years for some good reading on the subject." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149054)) "read some Graeber (debt) if you want to understand how it really worked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49783381)) "for a great dissertation of this topic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357041))

## What people warn about

- Weak facts and sourcing (2 comments): "Archeologists hate how he argues by ad hominem and does not appear to understand the works he cites" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520732)) "Graeber was a confabulator with a very loose grasp of the facts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48668805))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-transformation.md): 3 recommend
- [The Origin of Capitalism by Ellen Meiksins Wood](https://hackerapproved.com/p/origin-of-capitalism.md): 3 recommend
- [The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert Gordon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rise-and-fall-of-american-growth.md): 2 recommend
- [The Almighty Dollar by Brendan Greeley](https://hackerapproved.com/p/almighty-dollar.md): 2 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612191290?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781612191294) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Debt by David Graeber", https://hackerapproved.com/p/debt-the-first-5-000-years/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).