{"id":227,"date":"2009-07-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-06T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/the-ascent-of-money\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T13:43:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T13:43:18","slug":"the-ascent-of-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/the-ascent-of-money\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ascent of Money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The Ascent of Money<\/strong> traces the evolution of finance from its ancient origins to modern-day global economics. Based on Niall Ferguson&#8217;s book of the same name, it presents a comprehensive look at how financial systems have shaped human history and progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The documentary begins by exploring the fundamental concepts of money and credit. It illustrates how these ideas developed from early civilizations, such as the Spanish conquistadors&#8217; quest for gold and silver, to the establishment of modern banking systems in Europe. Ferguson demonstrates how credit networks became indispensable to civilizations, transforming from simple loans to complex financial instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving through history, the film highlights key financial innovations and their impacts on society. It covers the rise of the bond market in Renaissance Italy, which revolutionized war finance and led to the creation of powerful banking families like the Rothschilds. It also delves into the development of the stock market, explaining concepts such as joint-stock companies and the phenomenon of market bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Insurance and risk management form another crucial aspect of the financial story. The documentary traces the evolution of insurance from its roots in 14th-century Italy to its role in modern catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina. It also examines the rise of state welfare systems and their relationship to private insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The film pays particular attention to the property market and its significance in modern economies. It outlines how home ownership transitioned from an aristocratic privilege to a cornerstone of middle-class investment, especially in the United States. It connects this history to more recent events, such as the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and the subprime mortgage crisis of the 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Globalization and its financial implications are also key themes in <em>The Ascent of Money<\/em>. It draws parallels between the interconnected global economy of the early 21st century and the period preceding World War I, highlighting both the opportunities and risks of such integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout the documentary, Ferguson argues that financial systems mirror human nature, reflecting our irrationality, inequality, and tendency towards boom-and-bust cycles. He posits that understanding financial history is crucial for comprehending broader historical events and current global dynamics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ascent of Money traces the evolution of finance from its ancient origins to modern-day global economics. Based on Niall Ferguson&#8217;s book of the same name, it presents a comprehensive look at how financial systems have shaped human history and progress. The documentary begins by exploring the fundamental concepts of money and credit. It illustrates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-and-economics","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"acf":[],"cmb2":{"poster_feature_image":{"vid_m_player_background":"off","vid_m_poster_image":"","vid_m_poster_image_id":""},"gif_feature_image":{"vid_m_gif_image":"","vid_m_gif_image_id":""},"video_movie_settings":{"vid_m_director":"","vid_m_actor":"","vid_m_imdb_ratings":"","vid_m_amazon_associates":"","vid_m_vid_tmdb_movie":"","vid_m_vid_tmdb_tv_shows":"","vid_m_vid_tmdb_thumb":"backdrop_sizes"},"vid_ads_m_videoads_settings_post":{"vid_ads_m_video_ads":"","vid_ads_m_video_ads_type":"","vid_ads_m_group_google_ima":"","vid_ads_m_group_image":"","vid_ads_m_group_html5_video":"","vid_ads_m_group_html":"","vid_ads_m_vpaid_mode":"no","vid_ads_m_vast_preroll":"","vid_ads_m_vast_postroll":"","vid_ads_m_vast_pauseroll":"","vid_ads_m_vast_midroll":[{"vid_ads_m_vast_timer_seconds":"50"}],"vid_ads_m_group_dynamic":[{"vid_ads_m_dynamic_type":"image","vid_ads_m_dynamic_size_desktop":"336x280","vid_ads_m_dynamic_size_mobile":"300x250","vid_ads_m_dynamic_vertial_align":"bottom"}],"vid_ads_m_time_to_show_ads":"","vid_ads_m_time_skip_ads":"","vid_ads_m_time_to_hide_ads":""},"feature_image_settings":{"feature_image_position":""},"video_player_settings":{"single_video_style":"","video_player_position":"","vm_video_url_btn_choose":"","vm_video_url_btn_choose_id":"","vm_video_url":"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/17803671","vm_video_ratio":"16:9","vm_video_ratio_mobile":"16:9","video_player_library":"","plyr_player":"","video_streaming":"","vm_video_shortcode":"","vm_video_timelapse":"","vm_media_subtitles":"","vm_media_sources":"","vid_vtt_preview":"off","vid_vtt_preview_vtt_file":"","vid_vtt_preview_vtt_file_id":"","vid_vtt_preview_sprite_image":"","vid_vtt_preview_sprite_image_id":"","vid_auto_play":"","vid_preview_mode":"","vm_video_trailer_manl_url":"","vm_screenshot_preview":"","vid_tags":"","vid_p_sync_playlist":"","vid_c_sync_channel":"","get_post_format":"","multiple_links_structure":"default","multi_links_title":"","original_video_title":"","multi_links_series":"","vm_video_multi_links":"","vm_duration":"01:56:35","vid_social_locker":"off","vid_locker_mode":"social","vid_social_locker_id":"","vid_social_email_locker_id":"","vid_social_signin_locker_id":"","sv_login_to_watch":"","vid_membership_action":"content-video","vm_video_trailer_url":"","vid_download_type":"free","vid_download_target":"download","vid_woo_product":"","vid_download_mode":"","vid_download_mode_trailer":"","vm_media_download":"","user_rating":"","user_rating_position":"","user_rating_mode":"","user_rating_multi_sets":"","ads_above_single_player":""},"video_auto_fetch_settings":{"vm_video_fetch":"on"},"video_fake_views_likes":{"vm_fake_views":"","vm_fake_likes":"","vm_fake_dislikes":""},"gallery_settings":{"gallery_position":""},"quote_settings":{"quote_position":""},"post_options":{"main_layout":"","main_logo":"","main_logo_id":"","main_logo_retina":"","main_logo_retina_id":"","main_logo_mobile":"","main_logo_mobile_id":"","main_logo_mobile_retina":"","main_logo_mobile_retina_id":"","sticky_logo":"","sticky_logo_id":"","sticky_logo_retina":"","sticky_logo_retina_id":"","main_nav_layout":"","header_background":"","theme_sidebar":"","single_post_comment_type":"","theme_background":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdocumentaries.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}