Why Do Financial Crises Happen? (S1E11)

Do we really understand financial crises? History seems to suggest that we don’t.

Samantha discusses this with Felix Martin, the author of ‘Money: The Unauthorised Biography’. Felix explains the types of financial crises, and the potential reasons they occur. They talk about how the modern financial system is fundamentally built on trust - between the people and financial institutions, and between financial institutions and the government. Finally, they explore what happens when that trust breaks down, and whether cryptocurrencies and DeFi can actually solve that problem.

Join Samantha Yap on a quest to discover the history of money, to better understand why Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance may play an important role in our future. She’ll take you on a 5-minute audio journey that touches on the history behind today’s topic, followed by the best parts of her conversation with this week’s guest, Felix Martin.

Felix Martin is an economist, fund manager, and author. He began his career as an Economist at the World Bank in Washington DC in 1998 working mostly on sovereign lending programmes and debt restructuring in eastern Europe. He holds degrees in classics, international relations and economics including a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Oxford University. Since 2008, Felix has worked in the fund management industry in London, first at Thames River Capital – now part of BMO Global Asset Management; then at Liontrust Asset Management; and most recently as one of the founding partners of 1167 Capital.