The history of banking is full of triumphs and tragedies alike. Individual firms and entire business models have risen to dizzying heights before crashing down in disrepute. In each disaster is a lesson more lasting than the success or failure of any individual firm or financier. Although perhaps not the most studied financial market, and…
When it came to most arts and sciences, the state of Medieval European civilization left a lot to be desired. However, behind the shroud of brutishness and simplicity, it was a society steadily developing financial complexity. It was a unique development as well. The continent’s organization into numerous small states, in contrast to the Caliphates…
Whether in finance, or in other professions, the most transformative changes happen gradually. To be sure, many of the triggers of these changes may be discrete events, absent today and here tomorrow. However, for the effects to filter through to the methods of ordinary professionals, and the markets they operate in, some time must usually…
When currencies became divorced from the gold and silver that used to determine their value, their utility ceased to be global in extent. From then on, currencies became national phenomena. However, there was a time when the precious metal content of a coin was the sole determinant of its value. In that era, money was…
