Course Overview

Learn the lessons of history’s greatest financial scams and disasters. An award-winning economist shows that forewarned is forearmed.

Professor Connel Fullenkamp of Duke University guides you through four centuries of economic disasters—from tulip mania in the 1600s to the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Each of the 24 lectures covers a notable incident of financial misfortune, revealing patterns and pitfalls in financial behavior. This course provides engaging stories about infamous scams and crashes, educating you on how to recognize and avoid similar paths. Learn about financial instruments, how technology shapes markets, and why we live in an era of financial instability.

Video Lectures

• Fintech, Crypto, and the Future of Disaster
  • Duration: 29 min
  • The influence of technology on investing and the origins of cryptocurrencies.

2. The Con Men Charles Ponzi and Ivar Kreuger
   • Duration: 29 min
   • Analysis of two infamous con artists and their schemes.

• A Boom in Busts
  • Duration: 29 min
  • Exploring the evolution of financial markets and their instability.

4. The Tulip Bubble
   • Duration: 28 min
   • Examination of the historical tulip bubble and asset pricing.

5. The South Sea Bubble
   • Duration: 28 min
   • The story of John Blunt and the South Sea Company manipulation.

6. The Mississippi Bubble
   • Duration: 27 min
   • Speculation and the economic fallout of John Law’s ambitions.

7. Holes in the Ground: Mining Stock Frauds
   • Duration: 29 min
   • The fraught history of mining stocks in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

8. The Panic of 1907
   • Duration: 29 min
   • Causes and resolution of this early 20th-century financial panic.

9. Hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe
   • Duration: 31 min
   • Investigating the conditions leading to hyperinflation in these countries.

10. The Crash of 1929
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Dissecting the Wall Street crash and its underlying causes.

11. The Great Contraction of 1931–1933
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Analyzing the causes of bank failures during this period.

12. The Savings and Loan Crisis
    • Duration: 30 min
    • The conditions leading to the collapse of savings and loans institutions.

• The Crash of 1987
  • Duration: 30 min
  • Understanding the factors behind the Black Monday crash.

14. Japan’s Lost Decade
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Analysis of Japan’s prolonged economic stagnation.

15. Bankers Trust Swaps
    • Duration: 29 min
    • The impact of financial derivatives on corporate losses.

16. Asia, Greece, and Global Contagion
    • Duration: 27 min
    • Investigating the rapid spread of currency crises.

17. The Orange County, California, Bankruptcy
    • Duration: 29 min
    • The circumstances leading to this historical municipal default.

18. The Dotcom Bubble
    • Duration: 29 min
    • The rise and fall of internet companies in the late ’90s.

19. Rogue Traders at SocGen and Barings
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Case studies of two infamous rogue traders.

20. Unhedged! Long-Term Capital Management
    • Duration: 27 min
    • The downfall of LTCM and its implications for Wall Street.

• The London Whale and Value at Risk
  • Duration: 29 min
  • Investigating the failures of risk management at J.P. Morgan.

22. The Goldilocks Economy and Three Bads
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Analyzing the factors that led to the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

23. Subprime Debt and the Run on Wall Street
    • Duration: 28 min
    • The critical role of subprime mortgages in the 2007-2008 crisis.

24. China’s Shadow Banks
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Examining the risks associated with China’s shadow banking system.