The bloody birth of the bond market
Summary
Hosts Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth discuss the origins of the bond market in medieval Venice, where a failed war against the Byzantine Empire forced the city to issue tradable loans called prestiti. This innovation, born from military disaster and plague, established the world's first bond market and linked sovereign debt to democratic accountability. The episode connects this history to modern bond markets, arguing that fixed-income instruments remain a crucial tool for citizens to exert fiscal pressure on governments.
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