The course seeks to place money and finance in its historical context, showing its significant and often pivotal role in human progress and is a backstory for much of the human saga. From this vantage point, we will examine innovation and crisis in banks and banking, the bond markets, the equity markets, insurance, real estate, and cross-border trade & monetary flows. Our investigation will reach into numerous present day and historical financial events and circumstances, including the collapse of countries, scandals at companies like Enron and Lehman Brothers, and the impact of individuals going “off the rails” like Bernie Madoff or Martin Shkreli. These are scandals, upheavals, and crises.