Episodes
How the 1907 Panic Created the Federal Reserve
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the Panic of 1907, a financial crisis that nearly broke the US banking system and directly led to the creation of the Federal Reserve. They focus on the role of J.P. Morgan, who acted as a one-man central bank, summoning bankers to his library to marshal a rescue fund. The episode unpacks the root causes—a massive earthquake in San Francisco, a run on trust companies, and a stock market collapse—and explains why the crisis…
How the 1970s Commodity Boom Shaped Today's Markets
In this episode, Lucas and Luna revisit the 1970s commodity boom—a decade when oil, gold, and grains soared amid geopolitical shocks and monetary chaos. They focus on the 1973-74 oil embargo, the surge in gold prices to $850 an ounce by 1980, and the lessons for today's supply-chain-driven inflation. Along the way, they explore how the boom triggered the creation of commodity index funds, changed central bank thinking, and left a blueprint for modern investors. A sharp, historical look at how a…
The 1970s Wage-Price Spiral and How It Ended
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the wage-price spiral of the 1970s, a decade when inflation became entrenched in the American economy. They trace how the spiral worked, from union contracts with cost-of-living adjustments to businesses passing higher costs to consumers. The conversation centers on the pivotal moment when the Federal Reserve, under Paul Volcker in 1979, raised interest rates to nearly 20 percent, triggering a severe recession but…
How the 1921 Depression Shaped the American Recovery
In 1920, the US economy collapsed in a sharp but brief depression, often forgotten between the high inflation of World War I and the roaring twenties. Lucas and Luna explore how the Federal Reserve and President Harding chose not to intervene, allowing wages and prices to fall quickly, and how that painful adjustment set the stage for a decade of growth. They contrast this with modern policy responses and ask what lessons the 1921 depression offers for today's fight against inflation. With…
How the 1980 Volcker Shock Broke Inflation
In 1980, Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker did what few thought possible—he deliberately triggered a brutal recession to break double-digit inflation. This episode unpacks the mechanics of the Volcker Shock: how the Fed shifted from targeting interest rates to targeting the money supply, why that sent the federal funds rate above 20 percent, and how the resulting 1981-82 downturn—the worst since the Great Depression—reshaped American finance, labor, and politics. We trace the fallout: the…
How the 1966 Credit Crunch Shaped Modern Monetary Policy
In August 1966, the U.S. economy hit a wall few remember: a credit crunch that froze mortgage lending, stalled construction, and forced the Federal Reserve to rethink its playbook. This episode digs into how a seemingly small policy shift—regulating interest rates on deposits—triggered a cascade of disintermediation, as savers pulled money from banks and thrifts to chase higher yields in the open market. We look at the role of Regulation Q, the surprising pressure from the Vietnam War spending…
How the 1873 Comstock Lode Reshaped American Finance
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna dig into the Comstock Lode, the silver strike that turned Nevada into a state and nearly broke the US monetary system. They explore how the discovery of a massive silver vein in 1859 led to the first big industrial mining operations, the creation of the Virginia City boomtown, and the machinations of figures like William Ralston and the Bank of California. The episode explains how the flood of silver influenced the Coinage Act of…
How the 1819 Panic Created America's First Boom and Bust
In this special 150th episode, Lucas and Luna travel back to 1819, when the young United States experienced its first major financial panic. They explore how a speculative land boom, fueled by easy credit from the newly created Second Bank of the United States, collapsed after cotton prices fell and the bank tightened lending. The episode focuses on the panic's lasting legacy: it gave Americans their first taste of the boom-and-bust cycle that would define the nation's economy. Lucas explains…
How the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act Set the 40 Hour Workweek
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 — the law that gave us the forty-hour workweek, the federal minimum wage, and overtime pay. They trace how the Supreme Court killed an earlier version in 1935, how President Roosevelt's 'court-packing' plan changed the political calculus, and how a young lawyer named Benjamin Cohen helped draft the bill that survived. Along the way they unpack the politics of the 'wages and hours' debate, the southern opposition that…
How the 1849 Gold Rush Created Modern Futures Trading
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how the California Gold Rush of 1849 transformed American finance, leading to the creation of the first modern futures exchange in Chicago. They trace the journey from gold dust to standardized contracts, explain how merchants solved the problem of price volatility, and draw parallels to today's electronic markets. Along the way, they uncover surprising details: why miners paid a dollar for a glass of whiskey, how Levi…
How the 1918 Spanish Flu Reshaped the US Economy
In this episode, we explore how the 1918 influenza pandemic, often overshadowed by World War One, had a profound and lasting impact on the American economy. Lucas and Luna dive into the data from a century ago, uncovering surprising facts: cities that implemented strict social distancing measures saw not only lower mortality but also stronger post-pandemic economic growth. We examine how the pandemic accelerated the adoption of new technologies, changed the labor force, and sparked government…
How the 1933 Banking Holiday Restored Confidence
In March 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt shut down every bank in America for a week. The move could have triggered panic, but instead it ended the bank runs and stabilized the financial system. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the run-up to the emergency declaration, the mechanics of the holiday, and how the government's communication—especially FDR's first fireside chat—turned a risky gamble into a historic success. They also compare the episode to modern financial crises and ask what…
How the 1929 Wall Street Crash Actually Unfolded
Most people picture the 1929 Wall Street Crash as a single Black Tuesday. In this episode, Lucas and Luna walk through the actual sequence: the speculative mania of the late 1920s, the overlooked 'Babson Break' in September, the two-step collapse of late October, and the slow bleed into 1932. They explain why the market lost nearly 90 percent of its value years after the initial panic, how the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes backfired, and why the crash alone didn't cause the Great…
How the 1792 Panic Created the New York Stock Exchange
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the Panic of 1792, America's first financial crash, and how it led directly to the founding of the New York Stock Exchange. They trace the speculative bubble in bank stocks, the role of Alexander Hamilton's financial policies, and the infamous Duer conspiracy. Learn how the panic prompted the Buttonwood Agreement, which created a formal stock exchange that would grow into the global financial powerhouse we know today.…
How the 1902 Coal Strike Shaped Modern Labor Law
When 140,000 coal miners walked off the job in May 1902, they didn't just halt the anthracite industry — they forced a showdown between labor, capital, and the White House. President Theodore Roosevelt's unprecedented intervention, including threatening to seize the mines and inviting both sides to the same table, ended a five-month standoff and redefined federal power over labor disputes. This episode unpacks the strike's roots in dangerous working conditions and low pay, the union…
How the 1873 Panic Created Modern Finance
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the Panic of 1873, a global financial crisis that triggered a six-year depression and reshaped American banking and monetary policy. They drill into the surprising trigger—a spike in silver production that disrupted bimetallism—and trace the aftermath: bank failures, railroad bankruptcies, and the rise of the gold standard. Lucas explains how the crisis led to the creation of the U.S. Treasury's role as a stabilizer, while…
How Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation Destroyed the Middle Class
In 1923, Germany experienced one of history's most extreme hyperinflations, with prices doubling every few days. Lucas and Luna explore the causes: the war reparations after World War I, the French occupation of the Ruhr, and the decision to print money. They explain how the Weimar Republic's middle class saw their savings wiped out, and how a new currency—the Rentenmark—ended the crisis. This episode examines the economic mechanics of hyperinflation and its lasting social impact, from…
How Japan’s 1989 Bubble Burst Created a Lost Decade
In the late 1980s, Japan’s economy seemed unstoppable — the Nikkei 225 soared to nearly 39,000, and Tokyo’s imperial palace grounds were supposedly worth more than all of California. But when the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in 1989, the bubble burst with shocking speed. Over the next decade, Japan’s stock market lost 60 percent of its value, land prices collapsed by 80 percent, and the nation entered what economists now call the Lost Decade — a period of deflation, zombie banks, and…
How the Savings and Loan Crisis Cost Taxpayers Billions
In the 1980s, over 1,000 savings and loan associations failed, costing American taxpayers more than $150 billion. This episode of The Economic History Podcast digs into the collapse of Lincoln Savings and Loan and Charles Keating's fraud, the deregulation that enabled it, and the lasting changes to deposit insurance and banking supervision. Lucas and Luna explore the moral hazard at the heart of the crisis and ask whether the lessons of the S&L debacle were truly learned by the time the 2008…
How the 1956 Interstate Highway Act Remade the American Economy
In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, authorizing the largest public works project in U.S. history—41,000 miles of interstate highway. Lucas and Luna explore how this $25 billion investment reshaped American commerce, created new industries, accelerated suburbanization, and set the stage for the modern logistics economy. They trace the economic ripple effects: from trucking and motels to the rise of national retail chains and the decline of inner cities. A focused…
How the 1920s Florida Land Boom Became a Speculative Frenzy
In the 1920s, Florida experienced one of the most spectacular real estate booms in American history, with Miami property values tripling in just two years. Speculators flocked from all over the country, buying and selling land on margins of ten percent, often sight unseen. But the party ended with the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane, followed by a cascade of defaults that foreshadowed the Great Depression. This episode explores how easy credit, railroad advertising, and a collective mania fueled the…
How the 1896 Cross of Gold Speech Nearly Changed US Money
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the 1896 Cross of Gold speech by William Jennings Bryan and the fierce national debate over bimetallism versus the gold standard. They examine how the Populist movement arose from the Panic of 1893 and the grievances of debt-burdened farmers, and how Bryan's rhetoric nearly unseated the gold standard. The episode untangles the economic logic—and the flaws—behind free silver, why the battle mattered, and what it teaches us…
How the 1944 GI Bill Created the American Middle Class
Today we unpack the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944—the GI Bill—and how it reshaped the American economy. We look at the numbers: 7.8 million veterans used it for education, 2.4 million for home loans, and how it helped push homeownership from 44% in 1940 to 62% by 1960. But we also examine the dark side: racial exclusion that locked many Black veterans out of benefits, widening the wealth gap we still see today. And we ask what modern policies could learn from this massive investment in…
The 1973 Oil Crisis That Created Stagflation
In October 1973, OPEC slashed oil exports by 5 percent per month. Within six months, the price of a barrel of crude jumped from $3 to nearly $12. Lucas and Luna walk through how that single supply cut collided with Nixon-era price controls to produce 'stagflation' — a word economists had never needed before. They focus on one telling number: U.S. industrial production dropped 4.5 percent between November 1973 and March 1974. And they trace how the crisis reshaped everything from Federal Reserve…
How the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement Built the Postwar Global Economy
In July 1944, as World War II still raged, delegates from 44 nations gathered at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design a new international monetary system. This episode explores the high-stakes negotiations between John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White, the creation of the IMF and World Bank, and the pivotal decision to peg currencies to the US dollar—which was convertible to gold at $35 per ounce. We examine how the system stabilized exchange rates…
How the 1980s Farm Crisis Redefined American Agriculture
In the early 1980s, American farmers faced a devastating collapse: land values plummeted by 60 percent in the Midwest, debt loads crushed small operations, and a wave of foreclosures reshaped rural America. Lucas and Luna dig into the roots of the crisis—the 1970s commodity boom, soaring interest rates, and the 1980 grain embargo—and explore its legacy, from the creation of the Farm Credit System bailout to the rise of corporate agribusiness. They also draw parallels to today's inflation and…
The Panic of 1907 That Created the Federal Reserve
In October 1907, a failed attempt to corner the copper market triggered a banking panic that nearly collapsed the U.S. economy. J.P. Morgan personally orchestrated a rescue, pooling New York bankers to stem the runs. The crisis exposed the absence of a central bank and directly led to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. Lucas and Luna explore the events of that week, the characters involved, and the structural lessons that still resonate today—including why lender-of-last-resort…
How the 1962 Steel Crisis Shaped Presidential Economic Power
In April 1962, President John F. Kennedy faced down the country's largest steel companies after they raised prices by $6 a ton—defying his administration's wage-price guidelines. Kennedy called the price hike a 'wholly unjustifiable' threat to national economic stability, launched a federal antitrust investigation, and publicly shamed U.S. Steel's chairman Roger Blough. Within 72 hours, Bethlehem Steel and others rolled back their increases. This episode examines how the confrontation redefined…
How the 1877 Railroad Strike Forced a New Labor Economics
In July 1877, a 10% pay cut on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad sparked the first national labor uprising in American history. Over two weeks, strikes spread to 15 states, federal troops fired on crowds in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and the economy ground to a halt. This episode examines how the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 permanently changed the relationship between capital and labor. Lucas and Luna trace the economic conditions that triggered the walkout, the role of the telegraph in…
How the 1913 Federal Reserve Act Rescued American Banking
Lucas and Luna explore the Panic of 1907 and the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. Lucas explains how J.P. Morgan personally bailed out the banking system in 1907, leading to the realization that the U.S. needed a central bank. The episode covers the Aldrich Plan, the secret Jekyll Island meeting, and how the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 finally gave the U.S. an elastic currency and a lender of last resort. Specific numbers include the $25 million loan Morgan organized in 1907 and the…
How the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Made the Depression Worse
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, a protectionist trade policy that backfired spectacularly. They trace how the tariff, signed into law in June 1930, triggered retaliatory tariffs from over 25 countries, causing global trade to collapse by 65% between 1929 and 1934. The hosts focus on the specific case of American agricultural exports, which fell from $1.7 billion in 1929 to just $450 million in 1932, devastating farmers…
How the 1921 Depression Was Worse Than 1929
When people talk about the Great Depression, they start in 1929. But the Depression of 1920-21 saw GDP drop 24% and unemployment hit 11.7% — and it was over in 18 months. Lucas and Luna dive into the forgotten panic: how the post-WWI demobilization, deflationary policy, and a very non-Keynesian response by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon actually worked. They look at the 1921 Pittsburgh steel strike, the collapse of the Liberty Bond market, and why modern economists are still split on whether…
The 1847 Irish Famine Relief That Created Modern Economics
When the Irish potato crop failed in 1845, Britain faced a moral and economic dilemma: should it feed the starving or let the market decide? This episode unpacks the 1847 Soup Kitchen Act — a massive, short-lived government relief program that fed three million people daily, yet was shut down after just one year because officials feared it would create dependency. We explore how the Treasury's reliance on flawed Corn Law repeal forecasts, the ideological battle between laissez-faire and…
The 1948 Berlin Airlift That Proved Economics Can Beat a Blockade
When Soviet forces cut off all land routes to West Berlin in June 1948, the city of two point one million people had roughly thirty-six days of food and ninety days of coal. Most military planners thought an airlift was impossible — the city needed four thousand five hundred tons of supplies daily, and the largest airlift in history, the Hump over the Himalayas, had moved barely two thousand tons a day. This episode breaks down the logistics and economics behind Operation Vittles: how the US…
The 1914 Christmas Truce That Paused World War I Economics
On Christmas Eve 1914, along a muddy stretch of no-man's-land in Belgium, something remarkable happened: German and British soldiers laid down their rifles, exchanged gifts, and played football. But this spontaneous ceasefire wasn't just a human moment — it was also an economic one. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Christmas Truce briefly disrupted the war economy, creating a short-lived bubble in consumer goods and a tiny spike in cross-trench trade. They unpack the economics of…
How the 1957 New Zealand Wool Boom Created a Modern Economy
In 1957, New Zealand was a small agricultural economy, heavily dependent on wool exports. When the Korean War ended and wool prices collapsed, the country faced a crisis. This episode explores how that crisis forced New Zealand to diversify its economy, invest in manufacturing, and create the modern welfare state. We look at the specific numbers: wool accounted for over 30% of export earnings in the early 1950s, and when prices fell 40% in just two years, GDP growth slowed dramatically. But the…
How the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act Reshaped American Labor Economics
In 1882, the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act—the first federal law to bar immigration based on ethnicity. But this episode isn't about the social history; it's about how that single policy reshaped the labor market, wage structures, and industrial development in the American West for decades. Lucas and Luna trace the economic logic: railroad companies losing cheap labor, agricultural wages spiking, and a vacuum that accelerated mechanization and unionization. They discuss how the Act…
The 1971 Nixon Shock That Ended Gold Convertibility
On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would no longer convert dollars into gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. This episode traces the economic pressures that led to that decision, including rising inflation, a growing trade deficit, and the strains of financing the Vietnam War. Lucas and Luna explore the immediate aftermath, from the dollar's devaluation to the birth of floating exchange rates, and discuss how the Nixon Shock reshaped…
The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act That Created the Forty-Hour Week
In June 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing a federal minimum wage, a forty-hour workweek, and overtime pay. This episode explores how the law came to be—from the 1916 Keating-Owen Act that was struck down by the Supreme Court to the political horse-trading that got FLSA through Congress. Hosts Lucas and Luna break down the specific numbers: the original twenty-five-cent minimum wage (about $4.50 in 2026 dollars), who was excluded (farmworkers…
The 1837 Specie Circular That Collapsed the Economy
In 1836, President Andrew Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order demanding that all public land sales be paid in gold or silver — not paper money. What seemed like a crackdown on speculation triggered a chain reaction that led to the Panic of 1837, a depression that lasted nearly six years. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace how Jackson's distrust of banks and paper currency, combined with a global shift in silver flows from Mexico and China, created a liquidity crisis that…
The 1893 Australian Banking Collapse That Rewrote Lending
In 1893, a wave of bank runs swept through Australia, forcing 54 of 60 trading banks to suspend payments. This episode drills into the Port Phillip Bank, a Melbourne institution that had lent heavily into land speculation during the 1880s property boom. When the bubble burst, its collapse triggered a crisis that reshaped Australian banking regulation and gave birth to the modern central bank. Lucas and Luna trace how a single bad loan book — over-concentrated in suburban Melbourne land…
The 1920s USDA Bulletin That Created Modern Consumer Credit
Long before credit scores, a single 1920s government bulletin standardised how Americans borrowed money. In this episode of The Economic History Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how the USDA's 1928 study of family spending patterns gave rise to the modern instalment loan. They trace the shift from store credit to structured repayment, the role of early finance companies, and how a Depression-era regulatory tweak cemented the system we still use today. Specific numbers: the bulletin…
The 1980 Volcker Recession That Broken Inflation's Back
In 1979, Paul Volcker took the helm of the Federal Reserve and did what no one else would: he raised interest rates to 20 percent and triggered a brutal recession to kill double-digit inflation. This episode walks through the mechanics of Volcker's shock therapy—how it worked, who it hurt, and why it still shapes central banking today. We look at the specific numbers: inflation peaked at 14.8 percent in March 1980, the prime rate hit 21.5 percent, and unemployment rose to 10.8 percent by late…
The 1764 Sugar Act That Soured the Colonies
In 1764, the British Parliament passed the Sugar Act, a seemingly routine tax on molasses imported into the American colonies. But this wasn't just another tax — it slashed the existing duty from six pence to three pence per gallon, a cut that paradoxically enraged colonists more than the original. Why? Because the Sugar Act also introduced strict enforcement: vice-admiralty courts, no juries, and a presumption of guilt for smugglers. Lucas and Luna explore how this single piece of legislation…
The Panic of 1873 That Created Modern Railroads
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the Panic of 1873, a global financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Jay Cooke & Company, the largest bank in the United States at the time. They discuss how railroad overexpansion, speculative lending, and the shift from silver to gold-backed currency led to a six-year depression, reshaping the American railroad industry. Focusing on the specific case of the Northern Pacific Railway, they examine how the panic pushed…
The 1929 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade That Defied the Depression
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the economic history of the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1929, held just weeks after the Wall Street Crash. The parade was a bold gamble by Macy's to boost consumer confidence and holiday sales during the onset of the Great Depression. They explore how the parade's $1,500 investment (about $26,000 today) paid off by drawing over a million spectators and generating massive publicity, helping Macy's survive the downturn while competitors…
The 1953 Korean War Armistice and the Defense Spending Boom
In July 1953, the Korean War armistice was signed, but instead of a peace dividend, the United States embarked on a massive sustained defense buildup that reshaped the American economy for decades. Lucas and Luna explore how defense spending as a share of GDP remained elevated through the Cold War, the creation of the interstate highway system as a national security project, and the rise of the military-industrial complex. They focus on the specific figure of President Eisenhower's 'Chance for…
How the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement Created Global Finance
In July 1944, as World War II still raged, 730 delegates from 44 nations met at a New Hampshire resort hotel to design a new global financial system. The Bretton Woods conference created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, pegged major currencies to the US dollar, and tied the dollar to gold at $35 per ounce. For nearly three decades, this system delivered stable exchange rates and fueled an era of unprecedented postwar growth. But the design had built-in tensions that…
The 1793 Yellow Fever That Shaped American Insurance
In 1793, a yellow fever epidemic struck Philadelphia, killing 10 percent of the city's population and shutting down commerce for months. This episode explores how the outbreak forced the first American experiment with actuarial risk, creating the Philadelphia Contributionship's epidemic clause and laying the groundwork for modern property-casualty insurance. Lucas and Luna walk through the precise economic ripple effects: the flight of the federal government, the collapse of port-based credit…
How the 1792 Buttonwood Agreement Created Wall Street
In this episode of The Economic History Podcast, Lucas and Luna travel back to 1792, when 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement under a sycamore tree on Wall Street. That single document fixed commission rates and created the New York Stock Exchange's precursor. We explore why those brokers met, how the agreement solved a coordination crisis after the Revolutionary War, and why the street was named for a wall. We also look at the first listed securities — including Bank of New York…
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