As the world continues to struggle to find its footing amid rising unemployment, constricted credit and crumbling banks and industries — raising questions about how the economic system collapsed — PBS presents Niall Ferguson’s ASCENT OF MONEY. This ground-breaking four-part series examines the creation of the economic system by taking viewers on a global trek through the history of money. Watch Part 1 of the video and answer the following questions:
How do credit and interest, in the form of a modern credit card, compare with the early forms of credit and interest you saw in the medieval Italian banks? What is the same? What is different?
In order to give any kind of loan – be it a small business loan, credit card, home equity loan, etc. – the lender has to determine the borrower’s ability to repay the loan, or creditworthiness. Throughout history, money-lenders and banks have established different criteria for determining a borrower’s creditworthiness. Can you come up with some examples of what criteria you think medieval banks would have used to establish creditworthiness.