"In a society Filled with human innovation," "One invention stands Out above them all." "One that has become the Obsession of the modern world," "Money." "Money was not Just an invention;" "It was a mental revolution." "It created a system of trust, An elaborate tie that binds us." "All together." "It connected the world, Sending merchants across." "Continents in search Of far off riches." "Exchange was the engine That drove the progress of." "Civilization, and Money was the fuel." "It allowed us to specialize, Turning hunters into." "Blacksmiths, artists, Soldiers, and kings." "Money is what made The world modern." "We have taken it to dizzying Levels of complexity," "From gold coins to bits Of information stored." "In the cloud." "The history of money is the History of us, every coin," "Stone, and shell a symbol Of what we have valued," "Who we have served, and How our cultures evolved." "It has become a language That all humans speak." "This is the story of how Money made us modern." "How it opened the globe and Spread ideologies transforming." "The ancient world into a Complex civilization of." "Merchants, mercenaries, Industrialists," "And billionaires." "This is origins." "Money." "It's a primal obsession, And a global idea." "The paper changes, but It all spends the same." "Money can solve All our problems," "But it's the root of all evil." "It buys happiness, But not love." "It makes paupers into princes And fools out of all of us." "But what is money?" "Money is a technology, Its not a machine we created," "But a tool we imagined." "A technology of the mind." "This technology powers The modern world, economies," "Industries, innovation, Globalization." "Money allows billions of us Across continents to interact." "Under a common system," "Regardless of Language or belief." "It frees us to Trade, to invest," "To identify what we Collectively value." "In fact, money is a Fundamental building block." "Of our humanity." "Money civilized us, but it Didn't come out of nowhere." "It has its origins in one Of the great moments." "In human history." "Imagine its 15,000 bce." "You live in a small Hunter-gatherer clan roaming." "The mangroves and Velds of africa." "Life is brutal and short." "Survival is everything," "And food the most Precious commodity." "Money is Tied to self-preservation." "Because we need it to survive," "We need it to live." "Early man was always Looking for allies," "To exchange or to get The goods that they." "Needed to survive." "But in the Early days of the human race," "It was hard to Know whom to trust." "The Others are down there." "They have killed many animals." "Thank you." "Time to go." "The decisive moment," "When two tribes collide, Each side has something the." "Other side wants." "For tens of Thousands of years," "A confrontation like this Threatened to end in a bloody." "Fight for domination." "But, there is another way." "We are ready to trade." "In a world Where humans hunt to survive," "Food and weapons would be the First things worth trading." "It's fresh." "The weapons are good." "We are ready to trade." "I want this spear." "It is very good." "No." "All of this Meat and the hides." "For the spear." "Peace through Exchange was fundamental." "To early man." "It showed that, "Look, you may not trust me,"." "Or trust my tribe, But you'll trust this good," ""And over time you'll Learn to trust me."" "humans Evolved from a long line of." "Violent animals and we are." "Capable of extraordinary Violence ourselves." "But trade allowed us to put Aside some of those warring." "Instincts and we did that Because trading presupposes a." "Complicated and Sophisticated psychology of," "What is my object worth?" "What is your object worth?" "How do we trade the two?" "How do we agree on the Terms of that trade?" "We realized that we could Often get more out of trade." "Than we could out of violence." "We Often don't think about," "Why is the world like this?" "Why do we exchange In this way?" "We exchange in Order to survive." "If you're capable Of making something that I." "Don't make very well, or you Have access to resources that" "I don't have access to, we Can both benefit from trade," "And this gives me a Reason not to kill you," "Not to push you out Of my territory," "But in fact to cooperate Because we can both benefit." "From the goods in that trade." "What You've got is this need to." "Obtain vital commodities." "This kind of exchange Intensified dramatically." "During the centuries, so You have to develop efficient." "Ways to trade." "That's currency." "We're talking about Actual objects which had." "A fixed value." "So all of a sudden," "The idea of currency begins, And it starts this thousands." "Of year journey into the Abstract nature of money." "Money helped Make us modern by helping us." "Move from a kind of Complicated exchange where I." "Would have to evaluate The value of what you were." "Offering, and now we Have a universal system." "That system Has taken us from the simple." "Trades of the distant Past to today," "When billions of dollars of Goods are traded in a day on." "The floor of the chicago Mercantile exchange." "This system can be found In almost every corner of." "The modern world." "But as with many Pillars of civilization," "The greeks were Ahead of their time." "They had places called agoras," "The shopping Malls of their day." "The origin point of a Revolutionary idea that shaped." "The world we live in." "Back in The ancient world, in fact," "Money came out of something Called the agora of athens." "This was the hub of ancient Civilization and it was a." "Market place of things, But it was more than that." "We tend to Think of an agora as a market," "Where you exchange Money for goods." "But from its earliest Use in the greek language," "This was a place where you Would come and exchange not." "Just goods and Services, but ideas." "You'd see folks from All walks of life." "You'd see slaves, you'd see Merchants, you'd see traders," "You'd see government Officials." "A lot of people From all over the world came." "To the agora to find goods That they couldn't find in." "Their homelands, and the agora Was really the place that they." "Made a profit and you Could rely on yourself." "You could use your own Mind, you could use your own." "Capacity to make Money for yourself." "By the rise Of the ancient greek empire," "You see an ancient society That is very much like what." "We have today." "There are class distinctions, There's the rich and the poor." "But what the agora did was People came to talk and." "Express themselves and Shared different ideas." "And theories about the world." "And at the same time, also Exchange goods and money." "So that people can Become rich and poor through." "Their own effort." "Both these things are ways of Bringing human beings together." "Outside state control, Or royal control," "Or religious control." "And so it's the first green Shoots of individual freedom." "So this is where We think democracy came from." "As folks came together and Argued out the best way to do." "Things, eventually what's Going to bubble up from the." "People is the idea that The people should rule," "That is democracy." "So you Could say that the agora and." "Money is part of the Origins of democracy." "Money has An almost hypnotic power," "To unify, to fulfill Desires, and drive progress." "But with money, comes greed." "And as the greeks taught us With the myth of king midas," "Reducing everything to its Pure economic value may let us." "Build mountains of gold, but It strips away our humanity." "Greed may be good On wall street," "But it's led humans To acts of great evil." "None worse than when we Made humans a commodity on." "The global market And created slavery." "In ancient Days, we traded to survive." "Over time, we began To seek the exotic," "Braving the unknown to Forge new connections." "Four thousand years ago, Mesopotamian traders forged." "The first vast trade networks, Exchanging metal, spice," "Grain, even slaves over Thousands of miles." "One material fueled ancient Trade like no other," "Sparking conquest, Spreading religions," "Transforming history." "Silk." "This luxurious cloth was worth More than its weight in gold." "A web of trade routes Emerged to feed the demand." "Traders from east and west Sought their fortune on the." "Silk roads, braving Freezing mountain passes and." "Scorching desert heat." "They blazed new paths," "Connecting the world By land and sea." "But trade moves more Than just goods," "It moves people And their ideas." "Evangelizing traders spread Christianity and buddhism." "Across continents, Fueling cultural exchange." "Islam wove through Eurasia and africa," "Following the footsteps Of generations of traders." "The lasting legacy of The ancient traders is not." "The fortunes they built, It's the ideas they spread." "Today, we trade on a Truly mind-boggling scale." "We exchange computers, Clothes, coffee, video games," "Toothbrushes, baseball bats, Anything you can think of." "And most of those Goods travel by sea." "Shanghai, singapore, Shenzhen lay claim to the." "Three busiest shipping Ports in the world." "Nearly 100 million shipping Containers pass through just." "These trade cities alone, a Level of logistical magnitude." "Nearly beyond comprehension." "International trade has Promised to level the playing." "Field between rich And poor economies," "And strengthen the bonds Between peaceful nations." "But for all of its liberating Force, money can corrupt us." "Our compulsion to turn Everything into a commodity," "Something to be Sold or traded," "Led to one of the oldest And darkest practices of." "Humankind, slavery." "In the late 18th century, The most profitable shipping." "Business on earth Was the exportation of." "Slaves from africa." "It was called the Triangular trade." "The Triangular trade meant that." "Ships traveled from europe, To africa, to the new world." "From europe came Guns, ammunition," "Finished goods essentially Were sent down to africa," "And there, traded for slaves." "Well, these enslaved Africans were then brought." "To the new world." "And in the early days, nearly Half of the enslaved africans." "Died during this." "In 1794, the Portuguese slave ship" "Sao jose paquete de africa." "Sank off the Coast of south africa." "All of its crew were Saved but half of its." "Human cargo Of slaves were lost." "212 lives were lost that day." "While it was One of a thousand recorded" "African slave shipwrecks," "The sao jose paquete africa Is the only wreck we've." "Uncovered and it offers Historians a glimpse." "Into the past." "For four Centuries africans were." "Removed from the Continent and sent to the new." "World as property." "Two and a half of those Centuries was during the." "Triangular trade." "Two-thirds of the africans That were taken out of, of," "The continent were men." "Slaves were Bundled into financial." "Instruments and the new york Trading houses would then." "Trade securities Backed by slaves." "So, all across the world, People were trading these." "Bonds backed by Slaves in the south." "And you could say that slavery Was the currency that built." "Not just the antebellum America, but really." "Many of the urban Centers throughout," "Throughout the americas." "For about Two and a half centuries," "The triangular trade Changed the world." "We engaged in what was really Called the first global." "Economy in a sense." "An economy that was really Founded on the backs of." "Enslaved africans." "The legacy of that trade Continues to reverberate." "Around the world to this day." "What do I mean by that?" "Wars, the loss of treasure And goods, underdevelopment," "All of these Things continue to occur on." "The african continent." "Well, once an area's Destabilized, trying to," "To build it back up again Takes a lot of work." "One of the unique Things about slavery is that." "It's the often so-called more Civilized societies that tend." "To place greater emphasis On having slaves," "Because having slaves Then frees up time for people." "To do other things." "And you'd like to Think that with the civil war," "This practice came To an end, and it did." "Slavery is illegal almost Everywhere in the world," "But unfortunately, there Is still indentured labor." "Folks who live in Places of conflict and." "They've become refugees." "Those folks are working for Such a small wage they can't." "Even really put Food on the table." "So this idea of slavery And modern slavery." "Is still with us." "Modern slavery Is part of the shadow economy," "The black market, a system of Trade built on our craving for." "Illegal practices And substances." "It's a trade that rewards Slavers and pimps who turn." "Women into sexual commodities." "And, in recent times, It's made billions for people." "Trading in illicit drugs." "Mood altering substances have Driven global markets and." "Created incredible Wealth for generations." "Today's drug cartels Are meeting a demand." "They have surprising roots In another triangular trade," "One that started with The british lust for tea." "It's Interesting how trade patterns." "Can be origin moments In their own right." "We look at the sale of opium To china and in the end," "Precipitated the opium wars." "Between 1700 and 1800," "Britain goes Absolutely mad for tea." "Everyone wants to drink it and That means massive quantities." "Have to be brought in from China and the only thing the" "Chinese will accept In payment is silver," "So this is a problem For the british," "Because they're shipping, Essentially all the silver." "They can get their Hands on to china." "And then they hit on the Idea of using opium instead." "They could grow as much Opium as they wanted," "It was like money That grew on trees," "They would take it to China where they would sell." "It to opium Merchants for silver," "Which they Then used to buy tea." "So this is brilliant, Because it's a form of currency." "You can make as much of as You like and then the people." "You give it to destroy It by smoking it." "So from the british Empire's point of view," "This was a fantastic idea." "Obviously, it created a lot Of opium addicts in china," "But that wasn't their problem." "British And china went to war." "The result of that conflict Was that the british came out." "On top and it led to the Ceding of hong kong to." "Britain, so hong kong As we know it today," "Might not have existed had It not been for that original." "Triangular trade." "And That's how money," "And the drive to make it, Changes the world over and." "Over, again and again." "Rare spices, precious Metals, drugs, humans," "Everything eventually finds A price on the international." "Market, whether It's legal or not." "But with this torrential Flow of exotic goods," "It was nearly impossible To know how much." "Something was worth." "The chaos begged for the Next evolution in money," "An origin moment that gave Us all a chance to grow richer." "Than kings or lose it With a roll of the dice." "Gold has Fascinated our species for." "Thousands of years." "But the history of currency Is far richer than gold." "For centuries, humans have Used almost anything as money," "Beads, tobacco, whale Teeth, even squirrel pelts." "Cowrie shells were used for Hundreds of generations on." "Almost every continent." "Our first global currency, Both money and jewelry." "Salt was once a Precious rarity," "Sought after by cultures Around the globe." "It was like white gold." "But maybe the strangest Form of money was found in the." "Pacific ocean, On the island of yap." "Here, islanders trade In giant wheels of stone," "Some weighing Thousands of pounds." "These exotic currencies Reflect our technologies," "Our cultures, our values." "And as history reveals, Money is more than just." "Beautiful or useful." "Money is whatever We imagine it to be." "For centuries, pieces of metal Were the backbone of society." "Guilders, dinars, pieces Of eight, pound sterling," "Silver dollars And copper cents." "Coins have been haggled Over, used as ransom," "Offered in marriage, and Have led to countless murders." "As if they were Units of life itself." "The origin moment for the Currency we use today takes." "Us back 550 years Before christ." "In what we now know As western turkey," "There once was a kingdom Called lydia where the people," "Rich and poor, had to learn To live under a new system of the currency of coins." "I will be paid today." "Then I'll bring Medicine and food." "I promise." "Lydia, which Was a major trading center." "In the ancient world, Was really an early part of." "The story of money." "King croesus issued money That was silver and gold." "And by doing so, he really Formalized the marketplace." "They could buy things Like never before." "You didn't have to Negotiate everything." "They didn't have to rely On a literate middle man or." "Scribe they could Literally say, here's a coin," "I want to buy some goods." "And so in that way, coins were Incredibly democratizing and." "Empowered a new segment Of the population to." "Trade and transact." "The invention Of coins created a new." "Symbol of status and power." "Your needs, actions, desires, All are caught up in the." "Number of coins you possess." "I need your Herbs again for my wife." "Please." "Before Coins were invented," "Money was really a commodity, Food items that could spoil." "And get bad." "And when coins were invented You could save them," "You could bring them to the Marketplace and you could." "Profit from them, you had This newfound freedom." "You could use it for good," "You could also Use it very foolishly." "Money is Obviously a basic human urge," "And it's one that I slightly don't understand." "I mean, if you have, I don't know, $200 million," "Why would you Want $300 million?" "I mean, how much extra Quality of life can you buy?" "And yet humans, almost Without exception," "If they have 200 Million, they will," "They will work really Hard to, to double it," "And then double it again And double it again." "We have this sort of Great urge to accumulate." "It's the Dark side of capitalism," "And in some sense," "Manifests in the Dark side of civilization," "Which tends to Cater to our worst impulses;" "Our more self-destructive Impulses," "And I think that Roots itself in," "The diseases of everyday life." "When we trade And transact with money," "We're often stimulating A part of the brain that's." "The reward circuitry Of the brain." "Part of the deep Evolutionary early and old." "Part of the brain." "In fact, they've looked at Brain scans of people who are." "High on cocaine and then Compared it to people who are." "About to make money, And they've found that the." "Brain scans are virtually Indistinguishable." "When you lose money, it Activates a part of the brain." "Known as the anterior insula, Which is really the fear." "Center of the brain." "So money is having a very Visceral effect on us." "We don't Know when to stop." "As a species we just keep Going and going and going." "I don't think it's a Particularly healthy thing," "Because what we're doing is We're creating an earth in." "Which we are just Driven by this," "This need or this desire To acquire and consume." "The Question is, why is this?" "Because money provokes A deeply evolutionary." "Force in us." "More is better, we Need more to survive." "And you're going to do What it takes to get by," "And that's money." "As soon as We had coins in our hands," "We began looking for easy Ways to get more of them, fast." "The fact that we can gamble Away everything we have is." "Part of the thrill." "Vegas, monte carlo, macau." "In these places, more money Can be won or lost in a single." "Flip of a card than Billions of people will." "Ever see in a lifetime." "And we gamble with trillions Of dollars in a betting ring." "We call "The stock market." We risk, we win, we lose." "Sometimes we lose big, But we don't quit." "We are mentally and Physically addicted to money." "And once you're Addicted to something," "You can be controlled By those who supply it." "We will work at Jobs that we hate," "Do things we know are wrong, Not because we want to," "But because we have to." "But the value of money Is built on trust." "We all have to believe our Coins and pieces of paper are." "Worth something." "So what happens when the People who control your money." "Decide it's no longer worth What you thought it was?" "When the Illusion of money is exposed," "When we are brutally reminded That money has no value other." "Than what we agree on, It sends shock waves." "Through the world." "Today, money Seems less real," "More of an illusion Than ever before." "We exchange fortunes with The touch of a button." "Industries rise and fall In a matter of seconds." "We track these transactions With digital bits," "Ones and zeros." "Each day, billions upon Billions of dollars are moved." "From one account to another." "The flow of modern money Is almost invisible." "But how did this happen?" "For centuries, moving Money meant moving heavy," "Cumbersome coins." "And then a radical idea Changes everything." "One man sold civilization On the idea that money can be." "Anything we dream it to be." "His name was kublai khan." "1279 mongolian, china." "The Great mongol emperor," "Kublai khan ruled one Of the vastest kingdoms that." "Stretches from current day Myanmar in burma to hungary." "How does kublai khan Unify his vast kingdom?" "Through money." "He starts issuing money, As marco polo says," "Out of the barks of trees." "He issues his Money and in paper." "And by edict, he starts to Spread this money throughout." "His vast kingdom." "What is this?" "I want gold, silver!" "How dare you?" "You're thieves!" "You won't get away with this." "This is fraud." "Wait." "In a sense Monetary systems are a bit of." "An illusion, a Bit of chicanery." "Everyone has to believe that This is worth something." "But kublai khan also had The government structure and." "The military Power to enforce it." "He says, essentially," "If you don't use my Money, I will kill you." "He says if you Counterfeit this money," "I will also kill you." "Where is my silver?" "Paper Is the new silver." "Thank you." "You are most generous." "If you're A persian merchant," "You've never been to china, You've never seen this before," "And someone says, "I would Like to take all of your."" "Silver, and you're going to Use a slip of paper instead."" "You're not going to have a Really good reaction to this." "It's an astounding concept That this ever really took off." "When you think about it." "Kublai khan Starts to realize that really." "Paper is mightier Than the sword." "He turned paper into Gold essentially." "He was creating Wealth out of nothing," "Creating money where There is no money." "When paper Money's first invented," "It's something you can Exchange for actual gold." "But of course once people Start to accept it," "The paper itself gets Treated as currency," "And then there's the Temptation that you can just." "Print more of it," "You can print as Much money as you need." "And that's a temptation That governments over." "The years have fallen into." "Now of Course if they're printing." "More money than what They actually have," "And word gets out," "Then this causes Hyper-inflation," "And the paper quickly Becomes, well," "What it's actually Printed on, just paper." "And we've Seen many examples of that." "Catastrophic hyperinflation In history from germany." "In the 1930's to Zimbabwe more recently." "But it's a problem you Only get when you start." "Using paper for money." "Many rulers Have relied upon using paper." "Money to engender immediate Riches, to inflate prices," "And to spur activity." "Not just in ancient china But even today here in america." "Paper money is Especially, is an iou." "The government stands Behind this paper." "And if you start to Question the government," "If the institutions that issue The money come into question," "The money is gonna Start to lose its value." "And we saw that during The credit crisis," "Many of these central banks Who were issuing money around." "The world, their currencies Fell in value because." "Institutions were in Question around the world." "The paradox with america Was that the federal reserve." "Was issuing money and the Dollar was going up in value." "People were questioning global Institutions but the one." "Institution they trusted Was the us government." "And the modern economic system Is really a confidence game." "The united states Is so obsessively protective." "Of its currency that it guards Its security right down to the." "Specific fibers that Comprise each bill." "U.S. Currency may be the Most counterfeited money." "In the world." "Crane paper here In dalton became the supplier." "Of paper for u.S. Currency In 1879 and it's held that." "Contract ever since then." "We are now the sole Supplier of currency paper." "For the u.S. Government." "Crane paper is special Because of the materials." "That we choose." "High quality natural fibers." "Cotton and flax fibers, which Have traditionally been used." "In textile making are still Used for u.S. Currency as." "Opposed to ordinary papers Made today with wood pulp." "There are a lot of clever People that work hard to try." "To create counterfeits." "Security features in the $100 note include a watermark." "Feature with a portrait, Of benjamin franklin," "Which is put in the Papermaking process." "And then the most prominent Security feature is now." "The 3d ribbon here." "In the western world, We're accustomed to credit." "And digital electronic Transactions," "But one of the features of Currency paper of course." "Is anonymity." "I think that's partly why It's valued by many around the." "World is they can conduct Transactions using money." "Without having Traceability to it." "So a lot of the world Still relies on this." "Tangible product, Papered money." "Money Is with us at our birth," "Money is with us all Throughout our lives," "And money carries On after we die." "It's a force that is so Fundamental to the human." "Experience, we cannot Live without money," "We cannot survive Without money." "And money makes us modern Because it's always," "Always at the cutting Edge of technology too." "Money is Evolving into the currency." "Of information." "When you think about Something like google," "The way that they actually Distribute information is," "Is often times free right?" "It's, there Is no price to it," "They don't charge you." "But there's incredible Value and richness." "To the information." "The more we kind of get Close to the information," "Or the more we Get to the value," "The less we need money in A kind of traditional or." "Conventional sense." "Money is Increasingly becoming invisible." "You can probably see a future Where you walk into a store," "It just debits us by Recognizing our faces." "Money has always been Wrapped up with your identity," "Your status in the society." "Our identity Is absolutely currency." "Our identity has Incredible value," "Irrespective of its attachment To our bank account." "We are our credit history." "We are our surgical history." "We are all of these things That we don't think of." "Necessarily as having value." "We're Always trying to find easier." "Ways to transact," "We're always trying To find easier ways to." "Become more modern," "And money's really Part of that story." "All of that information," "Including what you Buy, look at online," "And like across social Media, has value." "It's all part of the Information market." "So, at the dawn of A new millennium," "We have come from trading Weapons and meat thousands of." "Years ago, to trading Information itself." "Our very identity now, our Individuality has become one." "Of the most valuable Currencies on the globe." "Every day, money passes Through countless hands." "Around the world." "But behind every weathered Piece of currency," "There is a deeper Story to be told." "Money is more than Just a useful tool or." "A symbol of value," "It is a work of art that Tells the story of humanity." "The symbols and Proverbs of our nations;" "The kings and queens of History;" "The gods we worship," "All are stamped on the Canvas of our currency." "With each advance, We reinvent money," "Only for money to reinvent us." "It united our species, Giving us writing, mathematics," "Spreading new philosophies," "New religions And new societies." "It made us modern." "Money creates." "Money destroys." "It has built our modern Civilization and enslaved it." "At the same time." "But above all, money Is a human creation," "One that we can rewrite To our own demands." "When history looks back On our time and place," "Our story will be revealed Through our coins, our bills," "And our systems of money." "It is up to us to make It a story worth telling."