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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Kendra Boyd on Black Business and Racial Capitalism during the Great Migration

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Trish Kahle on Energy Citizenship and Coal-Fired Democracy in the 20th Century U.S.

Trish Kahle on Energy Citizenship and Coal-Fired Democracy in the 20th Century U.S.

What do energy consumers owe energy producers? What does it mean to be a citizen in a coal-fired democracy? In this month's episode, guest Trish Kahle reckons with the costs and benefits of coal from ...

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Ian Kumekawa on Globalization As Told Through One Ship

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Koji Hirata on Steel, Industrialization, and Chinese Socialism

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This month's episode looks at the history of Chinese industrialization by focusing on Anshan Iron and Steel Works or Angang, located in Manchuria. Long portrayed as the quintessential model of Mao-era...

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LIVE! @ BHC 2025

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It's now been over a decade since the New York Times declared that the history of capitalism was in full swing at American universities. This podcast also just celebrated its 10 year anniversary. With...

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Justene Hill Edwards on the Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank

Justene Hill Edwards on the Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank

In this month's episode Justene Hill Edwards leads listeners on a deep dive into the rise and fall of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, also known as the Freedman's Bank. Among the topics expl...

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Erik Baker on the Entrepreneurial Century

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Back in high school, my social studies teacher—who was, of course, also the football coach—told my class that entrepreneurs were the heroes of American history. If we enjoyed a dynamic economy and goo...

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Mary Bridges on Bankers and the Dawn of American Empire

Mary Bridges on Bankers and the Dawn of American Empire

Looking back from our contemporary vantage point, the United States' global capitalist empire looks both omnipresent and inevitable. Much of the world's trade is denominated in dollars. American finan...

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