The Ascent of Money, a new book and film produced with funding from the Kauffman Foundation, tells the compelling history of money, credit, bonds, stocks, insurance, real estate, globalization, hedge funds, computer models of investing, and behavioral finance. The work by Harvard economist and historian Niall Ferguson chronicles the role of money in human progress from Mesopotamian moneylenders to hedge fund managers on Wall Street, and from soaring riches to financial collapse. Broadcast on PBS stations across the country, the two-hour documentary hosted by Ferguson traces the evolution of money and demonstrates that financial history is the essential back-story behind all history.
Learn more, and watch episodes online on pbs.org 
