Money & Debt: Crash Course World History 202

In which John Green teaches about filthy, filthy lucre. Money. And Debt. So, what is money? And what is it for? And why do we use money? And why does it all disappear so quickly after payday? John will look into 75% of these questions, and if he doesn't come up with answers, we'll get into some interesting ideas along the way, at least. This week we'll investigate whether money displaces barter, then leads to war, slavery, and what we think of as civilized social orders. We'll also see what old Adam Smith thinks of big money, no whammies, this week on Crash Course.

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[crashcourse]

In which John Green teaches about filthy, filthy lucre. Money. And Debt. So, what is money? And what is it for? And why do we use money? And why does it all disappear so quickly after payday? John will look into 75% of these questions, and if he doesn't come up with answers, we'll get into some interesting ideas along the way, at least. This week we'll investigate whether money displaces barter, then leads to war, slavery, and what we think of as civilized social orders. We'll also see what old Adam Smith thinks of big money, no whammies, this week on CrashCourse.

[sidonieGamer]

The Dragonborn just traded in Sheogoraths wabbajack to a Ebony Warhammer... What have been seen, cannot be unseen...

[BurkeLCH]

Really glad "DEBT: The First 5000 Years" was brought up. It was a really good listen (I listened to the audio book on my rides to work).

[JohnLeeSugma]

After watching nearly every crash course world history, the moving lips on the statues still send a shiver down my spine. :(

[ShamSham]

"Money only exists if two or more people believe it exists, " Daniel Suelo

[Strophios]

This new round of World History is really really excellent. Conceptual history like this is one of the most powerful kinds of history: making us understand the historical contingency of things we take for granted, and allowing us to see the full breadth of human possibility gives us license to imagine and work towards a world different and better than the one we have no.

[turchenko]

Silly John, everybody knows that civilizations developed currency because they were all trying to rush Petra

[nonamed]

4:55 he took an arrow to the knee and met up with his buddy immediately after... didn t even take the time to remove the arrow.

[zirrix]

...Did a Nord just give a Khajiit the Wabbajack for a Warhammer? By Azura.

[majake]

I am glad to see the open letter again. These new episodes do a good job of balancing a level of humor that isn't distracting with a level of seriousness that isn't boring. I can't shake the feeling that the crash course team read my criticism of previous videos and made the exact changes I was looking for.

[Jontman]

4:50 I appreciate the little detail that the Wabbajack actually has roughly the same base value as an Ebony Warhammer.

[BarakaGitari]

"You know why we are going to go to war? We need resources!" Man that cracked me up.

[tomroberts]

I'm halfway through his book, glad I'm not the only one with queries but his debunking of Adam Smiths theory of barter is truly life changing stuff.

[creativeusername]

The grey fox and samus masks made me smile

[jeffrose]

This adds a whole new level to "money is the root of evil."

[pokemoneinstein]

Wow, Thought Bubble really went to town with the video game references in this episode. :)

[MC_K-Dawg_the_Prophet]

I love crash course - I've practically been subscribed to you guys since day one but I never actually took the time to watch more than just a few videos on the subjects that interested me. But a few weeks ago, I started watching Crash Course Big History and all of a sudden I'm super addicted and now I've been bingewatching World History for what feels like an eternity!
I plan to watch all the other courses too and I look forward to new courses. :D
Keep the good work up!

PS: I'd really enjoy a crash course on anthropology (:P) and/or sociology!

[hari-krishnakoipallil]

Mario, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Skyrim in one video. Thank you Crash Course!

[nikkik.]

I enjoyed the skyrim references in this video xD

[DeltaVTango]

I don't know about you guys... But I'm a huge fan of John and Hank Green and what they do for the world. I'm sure millions of people here now and those that are to come to come will benefit from their videos and I personally thank them and their team for their contribution to the world