Money, Markets & Manias
Booms, crashes and trading empires: how money has made and unmade fortunes.
- economics
- finance
- money
Some of the stories included
The 2008 Financial CrisisHow cheap credit, subprime mortgages and complex securities led to the 2008 financial crisis, from the fall of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers to the AIG rescue, the bank bailout and the Great Recession.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929A stock boom sextupled the market on borrowed money before a record crash wiped out nearly a war's worth of wealth.- The East India CompanyFounded in 1600, the East India Company was a private firm that came to rule large parts of India with its own army.
Adam Smith and The Wealth of NationsWhat Adam Smith actually argued in The Wealth of Nations in 1776, from the pin factory and the invisible hand to his distrust of merchants.
Satoshi Nakamoto: Who Invented Bitcoin?Satoshi Nakamoto's 2008 paper introduced Bitcoin, then he vanished in 2011, leaving an estimated 1.1 million coins untouched.
The California Gold RushJames Marshall's 1848 gold find at Sutter's Mill set off a mass migration to California. It made the state rich, cost Native Californians their lands and lives, and left the men who started it broke.
How the Eight-Hour Day Became the NormHow the eight-hour day spread, from Robert Owen's 1817 slogan through Melbourne, Haymarket and Ford's five-dollar day to the ILO's 1919 convention and America's 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.
Mansa MusaThe 14th-century ruler of the Mali Empire, Mansa Musa, embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca that famously crashed Cairo's gold market.
Nick Leeson Breaks Barings BankNick Leeson hid losses in secret account 88888 and sank 233-year-old Barings Bank, leaving a hole of 827 million pounds.
Tulip ManiaIn the 1630s, Dutch traders speculated on tulip bulbs, with one 'Semper Augustus' bulb valued at the price of an Amsterdam canal house.
How Coffee Conquered the WorldFrom Sufi monks in Yemen to the cafés of London, this is the story of how coffee became a global obsession and a catalyst for revolution.
The History of the Banking SystemThe history of banking, from Mesopotamian temple loans and Templar letters of credit to the Bank of England, the end of the gold standard and the 2008 crash.
The Banana EmpireHow the United Fruit Company came to dominate Central America, and the part it played in the CIA-backed 1954 coup in Guatemala.
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