Surplus (The History of Too Much and the End of Economic Primacy)

Between 2009 and 2026, gold tripled in value, the average American home doubled in price, and cryptocurrencies crashed into existence and soared to a total valuation of $3 trillion. This vast accumulation of wealth is not a sign of economic health. The world is now awash with so much money that investors struggle to find productive outlets for their cash.

In Surplus, Marc Chandler argues that too much of a good thing can bring a society to its knees. After decades of striving for more, humanity is now suffocating under the weight of an unprecedented economic surplus — a global excess of capital and productive capacity that has grown too large to accommodate. Tracing the history of the surplus, from the first agricultural societies to today's age of negative interest rates and asset speculation, Chandler shows how every great surplus in human history has forced societies to remake their institutions and values. The current surplus is already reshaping the West, fostering inequality and straining the foundations of liberal democracy. Humanity has become like King Midas: everything we touch turns to gold. But unless we learn to manage the surplus, we will end up choking on the very abundance our societies were built to pursue.

In this sweeping examination of surplus throughout civilizations, Surplus shows that times of plenty are an under-appreciated engine of economic growth and social development, sometimes providing a catalyst for radical transformations. Through memorable analogies and sharp insights, Chandler passionately argues for a new synthesis of freedom and equality, showing that the basis for such a transformation exists today precisely because of the vast surplus we have amassed.