At all hours of the day, financial and social media bombard Americans with data. But most updates are like waves in a vast sea. Initially they seem monumental, but then they quickly melt into the sea and are forgotten. Nevertheless, human instinct compels us to fixate on the waves, preventing us from sensing deep financial currents that are the true sources of the turbulence on the surface.
This six-station interactive timeline reveals many powerful but slow-moving currents by compressing more than two centuries of US financial history into a matter of minutes. It may change your perspective on the role of finance in the nation’s rise and give you a better sense of what the future may hold.
