Crashes and Crises: Lessons from a History of Financial Disasters

Professor Connel Fullenkamp of Duke University guides you through four centuries of economic disasters-from tulip mania in the 1600s to the Great Recession of 2007—2009. Each of his 24 lectures covers a notable incident of financial misfortune or folly that is worthy of a Hollywood thriller. You hear how Charles Ponzi conducted the moneymaking scam that bears his name; how mining companies in the Old West sprang up like internet startups, with a similar imbalance of winners and losers; how hyperinflation destroyed Germany's economy at the beginning of 1920s and how its resulting stock market crash nearly sank America's stock market. You also hear how the Great Depression deepened through a wave of bank panics; how in more recent times the U.S. savings and loan industry went belly-up; how Orange County in California went bankrupt; how Japan's hard-charging economy came to a screeching halt; how currency crises swept the globe; how subprime mortgages nearly sparked a second Great Depression, and much more. You also learn how technology has transformed stock trading, how cryptocurrencies work, and why we live in an era of financial instability. As well as entertaining you with riveting stories, Professor Fullenkamp inoculates you against the gullibility, overconfidence, and herd mentality that have lured many to financial ruin. You won't have any trouble staying awake through these stimulating lectures. And, armed with the knowledge of how to stay out of harm's way, you may even sleep better at night.

All Lectures
1. Fintech, Crypto, and the Future of Disaster
2. The Con Men Charles Ponzi and Ivar Kreuger
3. A Boom in Busts
4. The Tulip Bubble
5. The South Sea Bubble
6. The Mississippi Bubble
7. Holes in the Ground: Mining Stock Frauds
8. The Panic of 1907
9. Hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe
10. The Crash of 1929
11. The Great Contraction of 1931-1933
12. The Savings and Loan Crisis
13. The Crash of 1987
14. Japan's Lost Decade
15. Bankers Trust Swaps
16. Asia, Greece, and Global Contagion
17. The Orange County, California, Bankruptcy
18. The Dotcom Bubble
19. Rogue Traders at SocGen and Barings
20. Unhedged! Long-Term Capital Management
21. The London Whale and Value at Risk
22. The Goldilocks Economy and Three Bads
23. Subprime Debt and the Run on Wall Street
24. China's Shadow Banks