by Aseem Gupta | Sep 29, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 19 MinutesIn 2005, America’s housing market seemed unstoppable. Home prices had risen for years, mortgage lending was booming, and Wall Street was making enormous profits by packaging home loans into securities and selling them to investors...
by Aseem Gupta | Sep 15, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 24 MinutesOn September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, one of America’s largest investment banks, filed for bankruptcy. Within hours, financial institutions around the world were confronting a terrifying possibility: if a firm with nearly $700 billion...
by Aseem Gupta | Sep 4, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 25 MinutesAt its height, the Roman Empire maintained an extraordinary economic system. Grain crossed the Mediterranean to feed enormous cities, merchants transported goods across continents, and taxes collected from distant provinces financed armies,...
by Aseem Gupta | Aug 9, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 29 MinutesOn 9 August 1965, Singapore became an independent country under circumstances few of its leaders had wanted. After less than two years as part of Malaysia, political conflict had made the union untenable. The newly independent island faced high...
by Aseem Gupta | May 11, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 23 MinutesOn 11 May 1931, Austria’s largest bank, Creditanstalt, revealed losses so enormous that its survival was in doubt. Depositors and foreign creditors began to panic, fearing that their money might disappear. The Austrian government...
by Aseem Gupta | Mar 30, 2016 | Economics, Markets & Money
Reading Time: 17 MinutesA diamond engagement ring is a remarkably small object to carry such an enormous price tag. A polished stone smaller than a fingernail can cost thousands of dollars, and that is before accounting for the metal, craftsmanship and...
