The Historical Precedent: Banking Before Algorithms
In 14th Century Florence, the Medici Bank dominated European finance. They had no credit ratings, no collateralized debt obligations, and no actuarial tables. What they had was relationship intelligence . When a wool merchant applied for a loan to ship English wool to Florence, the Medici agent in…
When Electricity Confused Everyone
In 1890, electricity was the most exciting technology on earth. Investors poured fortunes into “central station” power plants—giant facilities generating direct current (DC) for a few city blocks. By 1900, over 3,000 electric utilities had been founded in the United States alone. By 1910, most had gone bankrupt.
Why?…

