TTC Video - The History of Money

Follow the money—from ancient tokens to Bitcoin and beyond—in this 18-lecture course taught by a prominent economic historian.

Few concepts are as essential yet elusive as money. We use it every day, but rarely pause to ask what it really is, why it takes the forms it does, or how it achieves and retains value. “Money makes the world go round,” goes one saying. But, at times, it makes the world go crazy, too!

Therefore, it’s vital to understand money and how it works. The History of Money immerses you in this fascinating subject in 18 half-hour lectures taught by moneyman of letters Simon Middleton, Associate Professor of History at the College of William & Mary and an expert on American economic history. Professor Middleton follows money’s evolution across the centuries—from philosophers and rulers to swindlers and reformers, from market panics to multinational intrigues.

He opens with clay tokens and early credit systems. Then, he moves through Roman coinage and medieval banking and shows how new ways of creating and controlling money fueled empires and sparked revolutions. Along the way, you meet remarkable figures—among them John Law, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and Milton Friedman.

It’s no secret that the American Revolution was incited by a money dispute—namely, British taxes. You discover the prominent role of finance in US history—from the controversy over the Bank of the United States during the Jackson administration, to the banking wizardry required to pay for the Civil War, to the Great Depression and more recent financial crises. Indeed, America’s history is written in dollars and debts.