Ascent of Money (PBS Special)
The Ascent of Money, a (looks like) 2-hour program on the origins, evolution and current state of money and finance. The preceding link points to the page on PBS.org, where you can watch the whole thing.
I found it very interesting. I was also very satisfied with Niall Ferguson harping on the idea that the value of modern money is entirely dependent on the the faith of those exchanging it in its having value.
I was also satisfied with the frankness of the discussion of World War II’s impact on the US economy, and the post-war period, with the “expansion of the ‘American Dream’” (i.e. expanded home ownership). Of course, frank discussions of such periods, especially when talking about the financial standing of individuals (or groups of individuals) really can’t help touching on race. As an example, Ferguson touches on a region in Detriot, MI, where poor African Americans were concentrated and walled off. The ostensible reason for the segregation was creditworthiness, but Ferguson points to racism as the root of the problem.
One viewer commented:
01/14/2009 :: 12:04:23 AM
Former Contributor to PBS Says:The racism of this program takes away from the message. Mr. Ferguson made it seem as if the current mortgage crisis is due to minority homeowners, particularly in Detroit and Memphis. The camera shots of minorities further supported his theory. Mr. Ferguson should have looked further to Florida, Arizona and Nevada where white homeowners were defaulting in waves. The problem was that many people, whites included, bought homes that they couldn’t afford. If there truly were loans for people with no jobs, income, and bad credit, then everyone would have a home now. And that surely isn’t true.
Well… I think “Former Contributor to PBS” may be reading a little much into this. A), It seems to me that, in order for the program to inform you, it must contain some information you don’t already know. Perhaps the example presented by the situation in Memphis (or Detroit) is so complete and so extreme as to be an excellent “example”. B) White homeowners in CA, AZ, and NV may be defaulting in waves, but I’d be willing to bet you that most of them are gainfully employed, but just stupid (i.e. have overextended themselves and gotten into debt loads they were only tenuously capable of supporting going forward) as opposed to poor people being preyed upon by credit vultures (viz Memphis and Detroit). I think that the frank discussion of the abuse of the poor is more interesting, and valuable, than the plight of greedy Californians trying to elbow their way into the biggest McMansions they can possibly come close to affording, and ignoring the possibility of anything buried in the reams of paperwork coming back to bite them. I have little sympathy for the McMansion set.