Films with: Bruce, Charles

Never the same again

Concentrates on two significant historic transformations--the discovery and subjugation of the New World by the European powers and the emergence of a truly modern economy during what is known as the industrial revolution. Asserts that the driving force underlying these developments was consumption and consumerism. Features commentary on the Aztec civilization, Europe's bullion famine, England's cottage industries, expanding markets in North America, and the prescient writings of Daniel DeFoe and Bernard de Mandeville. Contrasts the Spanish use of plunder from the Americas, which was unproductively invested and soon depleted, with British commercial enterprise, which paved the way for ongoing economic growth.

DVD 2735

Risky business

Describes how, as recession enfolded Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, the economic axis shifted to the Islamic world, where the concept of risk management was born. Explores the Muslim commercial empire in Egypt, the reemergence of trade in northwestern Europe with the waning of the Dark Ages, and the rise of banking and sophisticated accounting methods among the Italian states. Discusses subjects ranging from centuries-old financial records preserved in Cairo's Ben Ezra synagogue to Venetian maritime trade.

DVD 2734