Banks fail. The stocks plummet. The nations default. We are in a boom in busts according to a World Bank economist. We must ask, what will bring the next disaster?

Look towards the future and consider cautionary tales from the past.

There is a There is a tulip bubble. In 17th-century Holland, tulip bulbs were prized assets. When speculation in bulb futures became a substitute for gambling, prices went up by thirty-fold in a matter of weeks, before the inevitable crash. The bubble was fueled by easy credit.

There is a The stock market crashed. Considered a bolt out of the blue by many, the plunge in stock prices in the fall of 1929 was foretold by worrisome trends in the months leading up to the collapse. At the height of the bull market, only a third of New York Stock Exchange listings were rising. Half of them were already falling.

There is a Derivative Debacle. According to Warren Buffet, derivatives can be safe and useful in the right hands. It wasn’t the case when Bankers Trust wrote derivative contracts for some of its major clients, putting one firm $200 million in the hole.

Exploring these and other intriguing cases in detail. Lessons from a History of Financial Disasters. Looking at mistakes made in risk-taking throughout history sheds light on the volatile market of today. Professor Connel Fullenkamp of Duke University shares some of the greatest stories of misfortune and malfeasance in history in 24 half-hour lectures. These stories open a window into not just financial markets and money-making schemes, but also into our own human tendency to look for quick fixes and easy money.

Monetary mysteries have been cleared up.

Professor Fullenkamp has a gift for making obscure financial concepts understandable. It is probably near the top of anyone’s list of monetary mysteries. In the very first lecture, Dr. Fullenkamp explains the purpose, utility, and inherent risks of this form of money. Cryptocurrencies are a high-risk financial instrument due to their novelty and dependence on computer algorithms.

You investigate a host of other financial phenomena in this course.

There is a There are Ponzi schemes. Charles Ponzi’s swindling scheme in the 1920s was the beginning of this popular form of fraud. Ponzi schemes rely on investors lured by the promise of high returns, with generous payouts at the outset to make the business look legitimate. As soon as serious suspicions are aroused, the scam collapses.

There is a Financial panics. When a bank or business ran out of cash, it caused a panic in the financial system that spread throughout the system. The United States only had a cure for economic ruinous panics with the adoption of the Federal Reserve System in 1913.

There is a Subprime debt. In the early 21st century, mortgage lending to riskier borrowers was seen as a good bet in the booming U.S. real estate market. When borrowers started to default in large numbers, innovative financial instruments hid the enormous potential for catastrophe. The Great Recession began in 2007.

Professor Fullenkamp is candid about the role of economists in disasters. When the United States was enjoying economic growth that wasn’t too hot or too cold, not too fast or too slow, experts called it a Goldilocks economy. The economy was fine-tuned thanks to the wise counsel of the economists. They missed the role of globalization, loose monetary policy, and lax regulation in keeping the U.S. financial system purring happily along. The economy was like a car with fatal flaws that could cause it to go into a ditch.

Ignorance overconfidence is a problem.

There have been crashes and crisses. The problem of hyperinflation in Germany after World War I was caused by the widely accepted view that the war would be short. In the 1990s, Robert Citron, the treasurer of Orange County, California, got involved with repurchase agreements and inverse floater in order to drive the county into the largest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy.

One of the major themes of the lectures is the calamitous mix of ignorance and overconfidence. Some of the rogue traders profiled in the course were responsible for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio, but your investments can still end as badly as those of Wall Street pros who didn’t know what they were doing.

The good old days.

Professor Fullenkamp explains how we got into this nerve-wracking era. The financial markets of the 1950s and early 1960s were calm and predictable, and bankers followed the 3-6-3 rule: borrow at three percent, lend at six percent, and be on the golf course by three o’clock. Bank failures were rare, interest rates were low, and stock prices rose. The country was living through the aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II, with strict banking rules designed to prevent another depression and booming U.S. exports due to demand from war-torn nations that were rebuilding. It was a convergence of circumstances that did not last.

There have been crashes and crisses. The macroeconomic factors that tipped the United States along with the rest of the world into the current unpredictable and sometimes chaotic state are recounted. Professor Fullenkamp believes that this situation is back to the future since the global economy is closer to the norm that has prevailed throughout history.

It is possible to be prepared for the next financial disaster by taking this course. A better understanding of the causes of misfortunes could mean a difference between being a spectator and a victim.

Included in this product:

There are 24 video lectures, 30 minutes each, and a PDF course guide.

Lectures:

The Future of Disaster is the first lecture.

The Con Men are Charles Ponzi and Ivar Kreuger.

A boom in busts is the topic of the third lecture.

The Tulip Bubble is the fourth lecture.

The South Sea Bubble is the fifth lecture.

The Mississippi Bubble is the sixth lecture.

There are holes in the ground about mining stock frauds.

The Panic of 1907 was the 8th lecture.

There was hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe.

The Crash of 1929 was the 10th lecture.

The Great Contraction of 1931–1933 was the 11th lecture.

The Savings and Loan Crisis is the 12th lecture.

The Crash of 1987 is the 13th lecture.

The lecture was about Japan’s lost decade.

There is a lecture about Bankers Trust swaps.

Asia, Greece, and Global Contagion is the topic of the 16th lecture.

The Orange County, California, is bankrupt.

The Dotcom Bubble is the topic of the 18th lecture.

The lecture is about rogue traders at SocGen and Barings.

Unhedged! Capital management for a long time.

The London Whale and Value at Risk is the 21st lecture.

The Goldilocks Economy and Three Bads is the 22nd lecture.

The run on Wall Street was caused by Subprime Debt.

The lecture is about China’s Shadow Banks.