While the effects of the Great Depression are well known, the causes are a lot more confusing. Broad or simple explanations say less about the event and more about the person speaking. In this month's show Nate & Dan attempt to explain what actually happened nearly 100 years ago. 

In this month's show Nate & Dan discuss the most infamous swindler in financial history: Bernie Madoff. They also talk about the original con artist, Charles Ponzi. 

In part 2 of this episode Nate and Dan discuss how the John Rockefeller's oil juggernaut came under attack not by competitors but by the public and politicians. 

The first truly global corporation began to take shape in the 1970's when the Standard Oil trust was formed. It would eventually control close to 90% of American oil refining. In this month's episode of Financial Context, Nate and Dan talk about how John Rockefeller and co. supplied kerosene for a nation before the advent of electricity and the somewhat suspect business practices they used along the way. 

Only about a decade after the California Gold rush another speculative boom occurred in the US. This time the epicenter would be in western Pennsylvania as the first oil wells were first successfully drilled for. 

After the Great Depression and the Civil War, no event transformed the United States quite like the California Gold Rush. It ushered in a time of economic, geographical and cultural expansion. In this episode we revisit an event that most children learn about in school. 

For more than 150 years the "beacon of free markets", the New York Stock Exchange operated as a cartel and fixed prices that its members could charge. Only in 1975 under the pressure from the Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission did the "Big Board" eventually change its fixed commission regime. 

In the 1970's Chuck Schwab founded what would become the third largest asset manager in the world. But like any business, when it started it relied on perseverance and luck. 

Warren Buffet once said it is only when the tide goes out that you see whos been swimming naked. When the proverbial tide did go out on the economy and stock market in 1929 a mysterious man from Scandinavia definitely won the prize as the most naked swimmer. 

Capitalism didn't invent the marketplace. At some point in history governments started to protect the rights of individuals participating in that marketplace and that was really the birth of capitalism. In this episode we explore the events that lead to Adam Smith's famous economic manifesto "The Wealth of Nations" and how the global economy went from being a static, zero-sum-game to an one base on growth.  

Books referenced: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harai