An online community about financial market history
Is this time different?
The Financial History Institute is an online community for financial history enthusiasts, for practitioners in financial markets who want to learn how those markets got here, and for investors who read the present against the past. Everything here is sourced and credited, and written to give context rather than a prediction.
What you get
Sourced stories to read or listen to.
Sunday Reads, every Sunday
The past in conversation with today's markets.
Learn from historians and practitioners.
The Poyais Bond
In 1821–1823, Gregor MacGregor invented a fictional Central American country called Poyais and used it to defraud investors on a massive scale — selling its government bonds, its land, and even its currency. The territory he claimed to govern was larger than Wales.
The first pieces are coming soon.
“The world needs more financial history, not less, so I applaud any project that aims to bring more context and nuance to the field.”
One history lesson a week
Subscribe to FHI
Sunday Reads connects the past to today's markets. Free, every Sunday.