Understanding Money: the History of Finance, Speculation and the Stock Market
Understand the key concepts of money, credit and debt, and the stock market.
What is money? What does money do? How has the understanding of economics changed over the years? Explore the answers to these questions and more in this online course.
On this course, you will learn how literary, cultural, visual and historical studies have offered new ways of understanding money and investment. You will look at popular representations of finance in visual culture and literature and explore the social meaning of credit, debt and the role of the market. You will also investigate financial crises in history and analyse how the media presents this information to the public.
What topics will you cover?
Week 1
- An introduction to the disciplinary debates regarding the function and histories of money.
- An exploration of money’s representations in art, literature and popular culture.
Week 2
- An introduction to stocks, shares, investment and the national debt.
- An exploration of how investment cultures have changed and the role that technology and financial advice have played in them.
Week 3
- An analysis of the causes and forms of financial crisis.
- An exploration of four case studies - the South Sea Bubble, the Railway Mania, the Wall Street Crash and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.
Course provider
