Video: Ferguson's The Ascent of Money

Niall Ferguson’s book, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, is now available in a full-length four-part documentary. Known for his intellectual firepower, Ferguson is an historian who specializes in financial and economic history and teaches at Harvard.

The Ascent of Money is well researched and especially relevant for putting the current financial crisis in historical context. As Ferguson said,

Money’s rise has never been a smooth upward ride … Financial history has repeatedly been interrupted by gut-wrenching crises, of which today’s is just the latest.

Each of the parts lasts for about an hour, but is conveniently broken up into chapters should one only wish to view certain sections.

Part 1: From bullion to bubbles
Ferguson examines the current global financial crisis in the context of the financial history of the West. Topics in this part include: the beginnings of money lending, stocks, bonds and credit.

Part 2: Bonds of war
Ferguson documents the rise of modern finance in Europe and its expansion into the Far East, including the ascendancy of the Rothschilds and bond markets, and the decline of Europe’s landed aristocracy.

Part 3: Risky business
The roots of the insurance industry in Europe; disasters like Hurricane Katrina expose problems in risk management; the history of hedge funds.

Part 4: Planet Finance
Ferguson chronicles the spread of good - and bad - financial practices across the globe, and the consequences for all of us.

Source: PBS - Thirteen/WNET

Comments

[whidbey:]

Great idea: I will watch it. He is a wonderful author, but a poor economic historian in many ways.
I have some difficulty with this man's work since he seems not to notice that leap of faith involved in shifting from hard metals to paper and the change of human character it required. Suddenly a man could expand beyond " his plate" and lending became easy, fast and a change-maker in all human affairs. This was a cultural change of substance.
I wish he said more about how shockingly quick came discovery of the magic of control over the supply of fiat currency. It was like minting votes in a newly democratized world. It is too bad that he does not do more with impact of monetary authorities on statecraft. The rise and fall of Nazi Germany was largely monetary phenomena induced by poor (but intended) policy following the 1871 and 1918 wars.

Finally, some day it will become clear how critical the reserve currency status of the US$ is/was for world order, and how quickly politicians destroyed both the dollar and the dollar order it facilitated in world affairs. Yes, I am a monetary nut, and likely over emphasize the role of currency in human affairs.

Jul 16 12:02 PM

[User 229008:]

Thanks for not telling us where to get it.

Jul 17 07:26 AM

[Moon Kil Woong:]

LOL the rise of fiat money should be a sequel called the descent of money.

Jul 18 05:38 AM

[ebor:]

You can do a google search for "The Ascent of Money" and click on the first link, but here are some quick links:

Episode 1:
www.pbs.org/wnet/ascen.../

Episode 2:
www.pbs.org/wnet/ascen.../

Episode 3:
www.pbs.org/wnet/ascen.../

Episode 4 should be out next week.


On Jul 17 07:26 AM User 229008 wrote:

> Thanks for not telling us where to get it.

Jul 18 01:03 PM

[Orishas.:]

The man is an economic moron with no understanding whatsoever of the origin and development of "Money". Do not waste your time!

Jul 18 10:40 PM

[KGY:]

After watching the PBS documentary as a novice am curious how American financiers / barons like John Pierpont Morgan, Andrew Carnegie or the J.D. Rockefeller stack up against Nathaniel Rothschild. I am also yet to make sense of how these big names fit into, say, the Forbes 400. In my view, if their wealth is seriously dwarfed by say the Forbes top 50 their relevance is somewhat not that important. Also, its unclear how the death tax affects these guys if they are still super wealthy centuries later ( as in the case of N. Rothschild)

Jul 18 11:45 PM

[Peter Cooper:]

Professor Ferguson is cited by The Times as the best historian of his generation - so please consider your words carefully when criticizing his historical credentials - how sound are yours?!

Jul 19 03:20 AM

[Pax Americana:]

Nial Ferguson

Jul 19 06:11 AM

[cranmer:]

I have this coming from netflix. "The War of the World" was endlessly fascinating.

Jul 19 09:56 AM

[dcb:]

One can use part two as an analysis of the bailout. One can interpret the wall street bailout as a way for friends to ensue they don't loose out on their wealth.

Jul 19 11:52 AM

[puravidavid...:]

Great comment, and I accept your self-criticism at the end, but largely because you suggest you over emphasize "currency" when the expansion and contraction of "credit" based on the larger public mood to borrow and lend, is THE central linch-pin of human economic affairs.


On Jul 16 12:02 PM whidbey wrote:

> Great idea: I will watch it. He is a wonderful author, but a poor
> economic historian in many ways.
> I have some difficulty with this man's work since he seems not to
> notice that leap of faith involved in shifting from hard metals to
> paper and the change of human character it required. Suddenly a man
> could expand beyond " his plate" and lending became easy, fast and
> a change-maker in all human affairs. This was a cultural change of
> substance.
> I wish he said more about how shockingly quick came discovery of
> the magic of control over the supply of fiat currency. It was like
> minting votes in a newly democratized world. It is too bad that he
> does not do more with impact of monetary authorities on statecraft.
> The rise and fall of Nazi Germany was largely monetary phenomena
> induced by poor (but intended) policy following the 1871 and 1918
> wars.
>
> Finally, some day it will become clear how critical the reserve currency
> status of the US$ is/was for world order, and how quickly politicians
> destroyed both the dollar and the dollar order it facilitated in
> world affairs. Yes, I am a monetary nut, and likely over emphasize
> the role of currency in human affairs.

Jul 19 01:10 PM

[Alfred Dwight:]

Dear Professor Ferguson,

I am sure you have been bombarded with the following url: www.youtube.com/watch?.... It is the video that you used as a resource when you claimed on "Real Time" that Eliot Spitzer
was speaking strictly about the New York Fed as a Ponzi Scheme on MSNBC. I know that were you to review the video that while Mr. Spitzer references the New York FED, he was speaking specifically about the FED in general as a Ponzi scheme. In fact Mr. Spitzer and the commentator were referencing specifically about the "money mechanism(s)" the FED uses to create fiat.

www.youtube.com/watch?...

Whether one were to classify the FED as a Ponzi Scheme or the scheme (used in the British sense) that the Rothschilds - Warburgs designed to build the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve;
these are systems of finance (money and banking) are unraveling. No matter how secretive the Central Banks may be, basic human weaknesses that drive FED member banks’ greed and over arching power are today almost immediately reported on the Internet. So FED secrets are no longer all that secure anywhere in the world. Secrecy is the only power the FED ( and every other central bank in the world) once enjoyed to remain the source of currency; paradise lost. The world’s general population is beginning to recognize that currencies backed by nothing other than the ability to pay with more currency of “secret” value leads first to a loss of confidence followed a complete loss of faith in the government who’s name is written on it.

In my opinion I think that the public sees fractional banking system as immoral; even if they don’t fully understand the mechanism, a very precarious place for any financial institution to be in.

I would be quite interested in your reaction to Mr. Spitzer now that you have the factual circumstances before you. By the way, I am ex AIG and CIT Executive having worked for them both in the 70s and 80s.

Sep 06 06:44 PM