The History of Interest and Lending: From Mesopotamia to Modern Banks

Interest and lending have shaped human civilization for over 4,000 years — from ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets to modern digital banks and crypto lending. In this deep-dive documentary, we explore the real history of credit, interest, debt, and financial systems that built empires, triggered crises, and transformed economies.

Discover how lending began in ancient temples, how Greek philosophers debated the morality of interest, how Roman bankers created the first regulated credit system, and how medieval religious laws reshaped finance for centuries. Travel through the rise of the Medici banking dynasty, the birth of global trade and joint-stock companies, the financing of empires, and the explosion of industrial-era credit.

We then move into the 20th and 21st centuries, where central banks, credit cards, digital finance, AI lending, and decentralized crypto platforms completely revolutionized how the world borrows and grows.

If you’ve ever wondered why interest exists, how loans became essential to modern life, or how the global economy actually works, this video will change the way you see money forever.

🔍 In this video you will learn:
– How lending began in ancient Mesopotamia
– Why interest was controversial in Greece and the Middle Ages
– How the Medici and Renaissance bankers changed the world
– How borrowing funded global empires and exploration
– How industrialization made credit the engine of capitalism
– How technology created digital lending, fintech, and DeFi
– Why debt cycles still dominate modern economies

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