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History of Money

History of Money

By: Nathan Pali
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About this listen

History of Money is a personal finance and history podcast exploring how money was invented, how financial systems evolved, and why the past still controls your wallet today.

Long before credit cards, banks, stock markets, and digital currency, humans were already struggling with debt, inflation, wealth inequality, speculation, and financial collapse. This podcast tells the long story of money—from barter and coinage to banking, paper currency, central banks, markets, and modern finance.

Each episode blends financial history, personal finance, behavioral economics, and the psychology of money to explain:

  • How money evolved from ancient trade to modern banking
  • Why debt, interest, and credit emerged
  • How inflation and currency systems were created
  • Why financial crises repeat across centuries
  • How banks and governments gained control of money
  • How fear, greed, and status shaped financial behavior
  • How history explains today’s money problems

This isn’t an academic lecture or a stock-picking show. It’s a story-driven guide to the history of money, how the financial system works, and understanding the forces that quietly shape modern wealth, poverty, markets, and personal finance.

If you’re interested in financial history, personal finance, how money works, behavioral finance, banking history, inflation, investing, wealth building, and learning how the past explains today’s financial world—this podcast is for you.

History of Money Because before there were markets… there was a story.

© 2026 History of Money All rights reserved.
Economics Personal Finance World
Episodes
  • Wealth Before Banks: What Money Meant in the Pre-Modern World
    Jan 23 2026

    Wealth once meant calories, warmth, and relationships — not numbers on a screen. This episode explores how the meaning of money changed as finance became more abstract and more individual.

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    17 mins
  • Unpacking the Tulip Mania Bubble
    Feb 14 2026

    In this episode, we explore the historical phenomenon of Tulip Mania in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, examining how a market for exotic flowers transformed into a speculative bubble driven by contract trading. We discuss the societal conditions that enabled such speculation and the key factors that led to its eventual, yet contained, collapse.

    Chapters

    00:00 Tulip Mania's Beginnings

    00:00 The Dutch Republic Market

    02:04 Tulips as Status Goods

    03:20 The Rise of Tulip Contracts

    05:00 Low Entry, High Hype

    08:25 The Logic of Bubbles

    10:12 The Bubble Bursts

    13:02 Lessons from Tulip Mania

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    12 mins
  • Spanish Silver and Europe's Price Revolution
    Feb 13 2026

    In this episode, we explore how overwhelming quantities of silver from the Americas reshaped 16th-century European economies and triggered the 'Price Revolution.' We also discuss how this surge in global money resulted in widespread inflation, economic paradoxes for Spain, and a silent redistribution of wealth across society.

    Chapters

    00:00 Introduction to New World Silver

    01:55 The Price Revolution Begins

    04:46 Silver's Journey and Spain's Paradox

    08:46 Impact on Contracts & Society

    11:52 Spain's Struggles and Global Reach

    15:23 Lessons from Abundant Money

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    12 mins
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