41
votes
Accepted
How did bank transactions (or "data" transactions) work when it took people weeks to travel vast distances?
Historically, the solution to this was the letter of credit, circular note, traveller's cheque, or similar. Basically, it was an attestation that the bearer of the document had deposited a certain ...
- 8,544
37
votes
How did bank transactions (or "data" transactions) work when it took people weeks to travel vast distances?
Quite simply, they did not guarantee atomicity or synchronicity, they guaranteed eventual consistency.
The general principle is simple: it doesn't matter when the money actually gets moved, provided ...
34
votes
Accepted
Why were so many of the earliest banks founded by cloth merchants?
If you get rich in a business you soon find that you have no reasonable 'line of work' for your money, or in other word: capital. So you get essentially too rich for meaningful expansion in your core ...
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10
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How did the Medici originally get into finance?
Cosimo di Medici inherited a thriving "banking" business from his father Giovanni, who was the "Fred Trump" of the family, with Cosimo being like the current President of the United States. Most ...
- 104k
7
votes
When Lehman Brothers collapsed, what happened to their clients?
They would have gotten their money back.
Legally, client assets had to be segregated from the broker's own accounts. This isn't always strictly followed - MF Global notoriously dipped into customer ...
- 97.4k
6
votes
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What is the oldest debt that any country is paying right now, and to whom?
As Semaphore points out, the UK is paying interest on consolidated annuities. His links are better, but here is a story from the New York Times. (Note: Semaphore corrected my quibble about UK vs GB; ...
MCW♦
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5
votes
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When did banks start giving interest to depositors?
I can' speak to the individual (see update at bottom of answer) you are referring to, but the practice of banks paying interest on deposits predates his birth date of 1869. An example illustrating ...
- 38.7k
5
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How did the Medici originally get into finance?
The answer is not so much a specific list of steps (task-list) but more Cosimo's political maneuvering, with family and friends, that propelled him leadership in the Republic of Florence.
His ...
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5
votes
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What was happening to bank deposits during WW2?
During wars, such as World War II, banking goes on as usual with a few differences:
Enemy assets and bank accounts are seized; meaning if the address on the account is located in an enemy country, ...
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4
votes
Is it true that there was no such thing as a Hispanic-owned bank in the continental USA until 1969?
I think your first result is correct. The structural impediments to Mexican-Americans founding a bank were significant. There were no banks in the region during the Mexican period. After the Treaty ...
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4
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Why were eighteenth century financial inventions only patentable under French law for 21 months?
SHORT ANSWER
The French Assemblée nationale législative saw financial patents as 'dangerous' as they were open to abuse and could be used to exploit people. The issue of speculation was a major ...
- 108k
4
votes
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Why were eighteenth century financial inventions only patentable under French law for 21 months?
tl;dr: France was going through a revolution and needed funds. Patenting financial schemes seemed like a way to spur interest in devising new ways of raising funds. Either due to ethics or ...
- 642
4
votes
Accepted
Why was the Federal Reserve District in the United States so skewed in division?
It is a compromise, using best data available in 1913 when those boundaries were drawn up, between:
respecting the natural hinterland of each designated bank;
respecting state and county borders; and
...
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3
votes
Accepted
How did Islamic finance under the early Caliphates profit or take loans if charging interest wasn't legal?
Partly through semantics, by replacing use of "interest" either as a term or calculation by a complete system of "reciprocal gifts". In a sense, there is a bit of willful blindness ...
- 72.3k
3
votes
Were Cypriots able to pay their bills during the "bail in" of March 2013?
I have a business relation in Greece, and a Dutch bank account. Both countries use the Euro. Theoretically the Greek company can transfer the money from Greece to my Dutch account. In reality they can'...
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3
votes
Accepted
How was money transferred in early 1900s' Russia?
The U. S. Post Office had instituted a system of money orders during the Civil War which became progressively less cumbersome as the 19th century ended. Western Union introduced its Money Order ...
- 72.3k
2
votes
How was money transferred in early 1900s' Russia?
I suppose they used telegraph transfers (similar to Western Union in the West), where available. Telegraph transfer was the main tool of sending money in Soviet Union until 1980s. In places where ...
- 38.5k
2
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How did Islamic finance under the early Caliphates profit or take loans if charging interest wasn't legal?
Given that riba is prohibited, as I understand, OP is asking about consumer loans and banks making a profit.
The full-explanation requires detailed consideration of politics and philosophy of Islam. ...
- 6,313
2
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Why were so many of the earliest banks founded by cloth merchants?
To the excellent answers here, I would add that cloth merchants before the industrial revolution would have aggregated the production of large numbers of suppliers and delivered products to large ...
- 1,178
1
vote
Accepted
How can I evaluate the relative fiscal burden on different groups in the US, for various periods between 1790 and 1846?
This is a marxist answer. All answers will be theoretically seated to a question like this, which asks complex questions about theoretically situated categories (purporting to represent real lived ...
- 14.6k
1
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How did bank transactions (or "data" transactions) work when it took people weeks to travel vast distances?
Two Generals Problem
To more directly answer your question, in technological history, this is a form of Two Generals Problem, which not only factors in latency but the risk of losing transmissions (...
1
vote
Why were so many of the earliest banks founded by cloth merchants?
Because it is non-perishable, cloth makes good collateral.
Lenders like to have something to use for security. Land might serve this purpose, but it was monopolized by the nobility. The (middle class)...
- 104k
1
vote
How did the Medici originally get into finance?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_Bank#Founding
The Medicis are said to originate in Mugello, north of Florence, where they were modestly wealthy land holders. A Medici was a Signori of Florence ...
- 3,340
1
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What was the first electronic creation of money?
There are a number of concepts confused here, and it isn't possible to answer the question precisely.
Quantitative Easing - pioneered by the Bank of Japan circa 2007. This is the most probable answer ...
MCW♦
- 32.3k
1
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Why is Alexander Hamilton considered the father of modern banking?
Alexander Hamilton is given credit as the "father of modern banking" because he pushed hard for a British-style central federalist system, created the first central bank in the US and was the 1st US ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible