Long before modern economics, rulers such as Hammurabi in ancient Mesopotamia grappled with a political problem that still haunts our economies today: when people’s debts grow faster than their ability to repay them, the entire economic system can start to crack. Hammurabi adopted a radical solution: cancel debts entirely. Amanda H Podany, professor emeritus of history at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a research affiliate at New York University, tells The Story of Money hosts, FT columnist Gillian Tett and FT Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth, what these debt jubilees say about how the ancient Mesopotamian economy worked and what it might teach us about debt today.
To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the show's dedicated YouTube channel here.
Learn more at ft.com/tsom
Want more?
Check out Dr Podany’s book, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East
Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth
Producer: Lulu Smyth
Senior Producers: Michela Tindera and Laurence Knight
Executive Producers: Flo Phillips and Manuela Saragosa
Original music and sound engineering: Breen Turner
Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis
Podcast Development: Laura Clarke
FT Global Head of Audio: Cheryl Brumley
Video editor: Kristen Kenton at Podcast Discovery