Ascent of Money

The Ascent of Money episode 6: Since the 1990s, once risky markets in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe have become better investments than the UK or US stock market. The explanation is the rise of ‘Chimerica’ – the economic marriage of China and the United States. But does it make sense for poor Chinese savers to lend to rich American spenders?     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you on an epic tour of the financial world. A professor in History and Business […]

The Ascent of Money episode 5: It sounded so simple: give state-owned assets to the people. After all, what better foundation for a property-owning democracy than a campaign of privatisation encompassing housing? An economic theory says that markets can’t function without mortgages, because it’s only by borrowing against their assets that entrepreneurs can get their businesses off the ground. But what if mortgages are bundled together and sold off to the highest bidder?     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you on an epic

The Ascent of Money episode 4: Life is a risky business – which is why people take out insurance. But, confronted with an unexpected disaster, the state always has to step in. Professor Ferguson travels to post-Katrina New Orleans to ask why the free market can’t provide adequate protection against catastrophe. His quest for an answer takes him to the origins of modern insurance in the early 19th century and to the birth of the welfare state in post-war Japan.     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money

The Ascent of Money episode 3: Why do stock markets produce bubbles and busts? Professor Ferguson goes back to the origins of the joint stock company in Amsterdam and Paris. He draws telling parallels between the current stock market crash and the 18th-century Mississippi Bubble of Scottish financier John Law and the 2001 Enron bankruptcy. Humans have a herd instinct when it comes to investment, and no one can accurately predict when the bulls might stampede.     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you

The Ascent of Money episode 2: How did finance become the realm of the so-called masters of the universe? Through the rise of the bond market in Renaissance Italy. With the advent of bonds, war finance was transformed and spread to north-west Europe and across the Atlantic. It was the bond market that made the Rothschilds the richest and most powerful family of the 19th century. Today, governments turn to the bond markets to bail them out.     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes

The Ascent of Money episode 1: From Shylock’s pound of flesh to the loan sharks of Glasgow, from the ‘promises to pay’ on Babylonian clay tablets to the Medici banking system, Professor Niall Ferguson explains the origins of credit and debt and why credit networks are indispensable to any civilisation.     In this six-part documentary respected author, journalist and lecturer Professor Niall Ferguson examines the dynamic role of money as he takes you on an epic tour of the financial world. A professor in History and Business Administration at Harvard University, as well as an author of numerous books