The Story of Money

This episode looks at how the US paid for World War I after entering the conflict in 1917. Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth explore the Liberty Loan campaign, its celebrity-fueled propaganda push, and how it helped create the modern US Treasury market.

The episode traces the bond market from 12th-century Venice to today’s $32tn US Treasury market. Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth explore how war, plague and political violence gave rise to the first tradable bond—and why bonds still discipline governments now.

Financial fraud takes center stage as Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth talk with Dan Davies about scams that expose how trust underpins modern economies. The episode ranges from the great salad oil swindle to a fake gold mine in Borneo and asks whether fraud is a hidden economic signal.

Jakob Fugger built a mining and banking empire so vast it is estimated at $4tn in today’s terms. Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth, joined by historian Greg Steinmetz, explore how he used finance to shape politics, religion and the foundations of modern capitalism.

Money sits at the center of this live festival conversation, framed through Dante’s suspicion and James Joyce’s optimism. Gillian Tett, Robin Wigglesworth, and David McWilliams connect literature, banking history, and central banking to ask whether finance corrupts, liberates, or both.