101. Evolution of Money [25:20]
What is money and why do we need it? What factors determine what we use as money? How has Western society progressed from gold and silver coins to paper currency and checks to electronic transfer of bank deposits?
102. How Credit Cards Work [19:03]
What happens when a consumer pulls out a credit card to "pay" for a transaction? What companies are involved in this transaction? How do they make enough money from the transaction to pay for their costs? Should we be worried that there are only a few large credit card companies or is there enough competition in the industry to avoid risks of monopoly?
103. Banks in the 20th and 21st Centuries [14:57]
How has modern technology changed banking? Why might having many small banks be better than having a few big banks? Why might having a few big banks be better than having many small banks? Why might nationwide banks be better than local banks? Will there still be a role for small local banks even if most banks are national giants? What should we do about small towns with no banks?
104. Trading Risk: Markets for Futures and Options [17:59]
How do people use futures and options contracts to reduce risk in transactions? How do speculators use futures and options to try to earn higher profits while bearing more risk? For what commodities are futures and options contracts traded, and why?
105. The Electronic Revolution in Financial Markets [25:41]
Why is the open-outcry pit market doomed? Is this good? Who gains and who loses from the replacement of open-outcry with electronic trading? How do financial markets compete with one another? What happens to organizations that do not adapt to technological change?
