Ascent of Money Pt. 2

       Chapter two of the Ascent of Money focuses on the "bridge between finance and the government"- bonds. I'd heard of bonds and the bond market before from my Dad, he explains that it's a pretty low risk form of investment. However, with this safety doesn't come a guarantee of high returns. Within the Ascent of Money, bonds follow along the theme of borrowing money. In the first video, they explain how systems of banks were created for middle and upper class people to get loans. In this second installment, it's the government who needed loans in order to pay for wars and military budgets. I found it pretty interesting the way that war seems so important in the realm of finances. I don't know if this is still true, but war was also affecting the personal finances of many Europeans mentioned in the first AOM.
      There also seems to be a theme of families being well off financially due to a good understanding of the financial markets they were involved in. Starting with the Medici family and the way they climbed to a life of wealth through banking and loans, this translated easily with the Rothschild family (one sibling owned 41 homes). I think what contributed to the vast wealth and success seen by both of these families was that they were larger families, and could spread out between areas. The video mentions how there were different Rothschild brothers in each major financial hub city of Europe, and this wide scope of reference must have helped them rise to the top. Overall, I found the overarching themes of war, large families, and power to be interesting and semi-relevant.