Most people know about 2008. Some know about the Tulip Bubble. But the crises that actually shaped modern finance? They're barely mentioned.

1. The Panic of 1907

One man — J.P. Morgan — personally stopped a banking collapse by locking bankers in his library until they agreed to bail each other out. This single event is why the Federal Reserve exists. Every interest rate decision you hear about on the news traces back to a weekend in 1907.

2. The Mississippi Bubble (1720)

A Scottish gambler named John Law convinced France to let him run the entire economy through a stock company. It worked — until it didn't. The crash was so devastating that France didn't trust banks for over a century. The psychology of speculative mania he demonstrated? Still perfectly describes crypto cycles today.

3. The Latin American Debt Crisis (1982)

In the '70s, banks flooded developing nations with cheap loans. When interest rates spiked, half of Latin America defaulted simultaneously. The playbook from this crisis — IMF interventions, austerity packages, debt restructuring — is still the exact template used when countries go broke today.

The pattern is always the same: cheap money → overconfidence → a shock nobody expected → panic → the rules get rewritten.

If you want the full breakdowns — including the specific decisions, the people involved, and what it means for your investments and business decisions — that's what History Repeats Itself is about.

Every week, one deep dive. Built for professionals who think in centuries.