The Ascent of Money

Historian Niall Ferguson explores the history and evolution of finance and money through the centuries, explaining its mechanics and how it has shaped our world today.

In The Ascent of Money, Ferguson travels the globe from Wall Street to Europe to South America and examines the mechanisms used by the world’s top financiers to generate maximum returns on their investments. He looks at the dangers posed to the world economy when risky strategies fail to pay off. The film takes complex financial vocabulary and presents them in layman terms to paint a picture of how the world of international finance truly works.