The Medici Meltdown

Forbes.com ^ | October 31, 2008 | Marcello Simonetta

[billorites]

In these times of financial woe, some journalists have been timidly exploring the past for precedents, pushing the horizon as far as the 1929 Great Depression. Very few have looked beyond that traumatic event, assuming that capitalism in its current form has no earlier historical roots. But this is hardly true--earlier history might indeed teach us valuable lessons.

Raymond De Roover, a Harvard historian, published in 1963 his classic The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank (1397-1494), which opens with the statement that "modern capitalism based on private ownership" was invented by Italian merchants and bankers, by far the most active businessmen in the Middle Ages. Joint stock companies did not exist until the 1600s, "but the Medici Bank had foreshadowed the holding companies in certain respects."

In its heyday, the Florentine banking conglomerate was the largest in Europe. It had branches in Geneva, Avignon, Bruges and London as well as in Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan. Founded in 1397 by Giovanni di Bicci, the bank's fortune reached its peak under the wise management of Cosimo de' Medici, the famous patron of the arts.

The expansion of the banking activities continued at an extraordinary pace until his death in 1464. Gold and cash deposits along with commercial ventures and merchandise exchanges guaranteed a continuous flow for high-interest lending, which was wisely supervised. But the Bank soon began to overstretch itself.

Now, as then, the coordination between different branches or departments continues to be a major issue confronting administrators in business as well as in governments. Choosing the right person as a manager is no less difficult than finding the right heir to the business or the reign.

After Cosimo's death, his son, Piero, and his grandson, Lorenzo, had a much less steady hand on the branch managers and gradually

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 11/01/2008. Thanks billorites.

[SunkenCiv]

From a small Italian community in 15th century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artisitc revolution in Western history- the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world. | PBS | Uploaded to YouTube by Tsenka Stoycheva | Published on July 24, 2012

The Medici - Godfathers of the Renaissance 1/4 BG sub

The Medici - Godfathers of the Renaissance 2/4 BG sub

The Medici - Godfathers of the Renaissance 3/4 BG sub

The Medici - Godfathers of the Renaissance 4/4 BG sub

[AndyJackson]

Linkee no workee.

Try this one The Medici Meltdown

[Redcitizen]

Is there a Medici in the house?!