Comments on: About the Film

By: Holly K

Holly K — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:19:49 +0000

A compelling series, very timely, agree with many of the comments here. But production is somewhat overdone at times, in order to appeal to 20-somethings? And starting with the exploitation of the Incan silver by the Spanish misses all of the earlier history. Maybe there would need to be an episode 5 to go back to earlier forms of money — China, Rome, trade on the Silk Road, etc. Some surprising no-shows such as how Wall Street started.
I’d like to say directly to Niall Ferguson that I disagree with your assessment of Japan. I can tell you don’t know anything about Japan because all your shots are at the same places all foreigners flock to for their shots for documentaries that have a few minutes on Japan. You should have talked with people who know Japan well. There are economists and sociologists there, you know. (Or maybe you didn’t know.) It’s regrettable that you, like so many others, have spewed out misinformation that will be believed and perpetuated. Welfare state? I was sure you would focus on the Scandinavian countries and there wasn’t one word on any of them! Japan has problems, you got one right with the low birth rate and aging population, but a welfare state?? You are totally wrong about that.
Nowhere in the series or in the credits that I could find was there any indication of who Ferguson is. His background. Where he has and is teaching. That information needs to be there.

By: Mike X4

Mike X4 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:24:38 +0000

Okay, I give up. WHEN IS EPISODE 3 AIRING?
I’ve been thinking about EP 1 & 2 for a whole week, waiting for tonight at 9PM when EP 3 would air. My whole day I was thinking about what EP 3 might be… and NOTHING. Rerun of EP2, and no evidence that EP3 even exists.

How about a new series The Ascent of Incompetent Broadcasting. I’m in Los Angeles, so even the inaccurate TV listings have the wrong timezone. Enough, just let me drive to the corner 7-11 and buy a DVD of all episodes of the thing the 1st day it broadcasts. I just don’t get it. I don’t understand TV anymore. WHEN IS EPISODE 3?!

By: If you are serious about money . . . . - MONTREALRACING

If you are serious about money . . . . - MONTREALRACING — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:48:38 +0000

[...] documentary regarding the beginning of; -Bonds -Stock market -Corporation -Derivatives -etc About the Film | The Ascent of Money | PBS Episode one was last week, #2 is this Wednesday (4 [...]

By: F. Cerezo

F. Cerezo — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:08:32 +0000

History is written with money and money makes it possible to create History. We would have not got here without it. I had just watched the first chapter of the PBS series at a very unusual time (1:30 AM) but had to disagree with Ms. Gina D’Agostino-Quattrociocchi –one trail that started at the top of oldest comments, not to pick on her particularly- and those that quote her claims of premeditated packaging of the series. The so called “Channel 4’s six episodes” look to me as short sketches (averaging 2 minutes long) of key points of the work. This is not to say that PBS production has not been edited, that is plausible…
In my honest opinion, the chronology set by the first chapter starting with the Incas and the Conquistadores sets the interest (no pun intended) in a wrong footing. It seems to lay an important blame on Spanish crown (yes, there are other faults to be traced back to this crown, not the subject of this writting now) for the birth of money when in reality the concept of such predates even the monarchies of the 14th Century. In effect, the conquistadores came to this side of the Atlantic (1492 forward) long after the first gold coin were ever minted. By then the Medici had already established their bank, and was their money that partially founded -through loans to the crown of Spain- the travel of Cristobal Colon.
The “Ascent of Money” work is a condensed look into modern History that lacks explanation of the real origin of the trade and exchange of goods predating the invention of modern banking. However condensed, it is an interested addition to the need to understand how we have come this far and why we would continue to go forward. Looking forward to watch the second episode, where I am certain Enron would be mentioned and also Memphis (the Tennessee one).

By: Peter V

Peter V — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:51:05 +0000

I stumbled on this channel and luckily caught this show as soon as it started. I love history and money even more! I liked your presentation so much I ordered the book and the dvd combo! I cannot wait to read/watch the rest, thank you.

By: mushumbusi kappia

mushumbusi kappia — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:11:52 +0000

am in Tanzania Africa.Howa do i access the book and dvd?

By: ignatius

ignatius — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:12:32 +0000

I watched the last 2 episodes. Overall it is good for layman to understand what is happening but it is extremely misleading by blaming the Chinese who saved and lent money to US. I am sad for such professor producing such distorted and simplified series to mislead us. The recent crisis lie at the greedy of the bankers. And the US Government was “forced” to save them.

By: Bayard Waterbury

Bayard Waterbury — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:50:58 +0000

This is fascinating, so far as it goes. Jodie points out a weakness. There is almost nothing about the vast deregulation (Glass Steagall and others) and the vast failure of regulatory oversight that goes to the root of the current crisis. It is excellent otherwise. An entire four hour movie could be devoted to the connections within what has been referred to as the Oligarchy, that is the cooperative relationship between those with great financial power (addiction to wealth) and their enablers in the polical arena who made the crash possible by a failure in ethical leadership.

By: Murph

Murph — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:17:37 +0000

I own a copy of the two-hour DVD of “The Ascent of Money” as well as a hardcover copy of the book – now there will be a 4-hour version – will I have to buy that as well? Perhaps I can provide the info (or send back) the 2-hour copy (that I have let several friends watch) to get the 4-hour version. I realized that there was something off about the show when Dr. Ferguson kept referring to “this series” even though I was watching a single 2-hr presentation.

Hopefully there will be an opportunity to convert my 2-hr DVD into a 4-hr (or full series) version, since that could provide much more valuable informatino. The “Channel 4″ site referenced by Gina above does not indicate the time of each episode – were they 30m (24m) or 60m (48m) episodes?

I am almost done with teh “Introduction” to the book, and theer are a few similarities (where text was lifted directly form the intro) – good idea when you’ve gone to the trouble of writing something well, but I’d hate to have to pay for a third title called “The Ascent of Money”.

In terms of the current economy – What happened to the houses? Lenders lent to unfit borrowers. Lenders then packaged mortgages into investments and sold the securitized mortgages to a variety of investment banks, who sold some and held on to some. Then ARMs (and other bad mortgage innovations) reset and borrowers defaulted. So, the investment banks are out their money (monthly slice of the mortgage) so insurance companies had to pay out on the CDSs. So, who owns the houses? From what I can tell, the original lenders now have a lot of free houses that they have no real incentive to sell again until teh market “recovers” and the houses are worth more money. Is that true, or am I missing something?

By: Jodie

Jodie — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:07:45 +0000

A very good and detailed production, but missing one of the base causes of the current crisis: The repeal of the 1933 Glass Steagall Act in 1999. This change alone set the stage for what transpired since in the United States.