Joshua Greenberg on the Rage for Paper Money and Monetary Knowledge in Early America

Joshua Greenberg on the Rage for Paper Money and Monetary Knowledge in Early America

For many Americans, the question--What is a dollar worth?--may sound bizarre, if not redundant. Fluctuating international exchange rates, highly volatile crypto-currencies, counterfeit money, these are all things the average American hears about on the news, but rarely thinks about on a day-to-day basis. Even the most enthusiastic Bitcoin supporters will likely readily admit they prefer to conduct the majority of their daily transactions in a currency whose value is relatively stable, and backed by the government. And while fewer and fewer of those transactions take place using actual paper money, the fact is, the U.S. dollar remains the primary currency in which goods are quoted, traded, and payments settled across not only in the United States, but around the globe.

This was not the case two-hundred years ago when Americans were obliged to live and transact in a world filled with upwards of 10,000 unique bank notes tied to different banks of various trustworthiness. This number does not even include the plethora of counterfeit bills and countless shinplasters issued by un-regulated merchants, firms, and municipalities. In this month's episode, our guest, Joshua Greenberg explains the incredible amount of monetary knowledge required of Americans to participate in this highly volatile and chaotic market economy. An extensive monetary knowledge was necessary not just for financiers, merchants, and others operating at a high-level of economic activity, but also those who may never have had the occasion to step foot inside a bank themselves, but, nevertheless were compelled to constantly evaluate for themselves the value and authenticity of the paper money being handed to them or risk losing out.

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Joan Flores-Villalobos on How Black Women's Labor Made the Panama Canal

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4 Touko 202349min

Christy Thornton on Mexico, Development, and Governing the Global Economy

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5 Huhti 202342min

Special Episode on the Military and the Market

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7 Maalis 202346min

Allan Lumba on Monetary Authorities in the American Colonial Philippines

Allan Lumba on Monetary Authorities in the American Colonial Philippines

In this episode, historian Allan Lumba explores how the United States wielded monetary authority in the colonial Philippines, including the role of money as a tool for countering decolonization, entre...

2 Helmi 202338min

Chad Pearson on Klansmen, Employer Vigilantes, and Labor Suppression in the Long Nineteenth Century

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5 Joulu 202235min

Ghassan Moazzin on Foreign Banks and the Making of Modern China

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3 Loka 202233min

Claire Dunning on Nonprofit Neighborhoods and Urban Inequality

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In this month's episode, Claire Dunning explains how and why non-profits came to play such an important role in U.S. cities after World War II. In doing so, she explores the emergence of non-profit ne...

2 Elo 202249min

Mircea Raianu on Tata and Global Capitalism in India

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