MoAF in the News

David Cowen, MoAF President and CEO, walks through a brief history of money in the United States—long before there was a US dollar—from the Museum’s historical collections.

Thank the US government for making the Museum of American Finance gala a normal social evening. Rather than stress-schmoozing in the throes of bank runs and failures, the 525 guests gathered Monday night at Cipriani 42nd Street seemed to grasp their bellinis with a sense of relief that regulators had pledged that deposits exceeding $250,000 would be safe.

In this episode of Banking on Girls, financial historian Mark Higgins takes us back to the Gilded Era where he explores Hetty Green’s childhood and how she became such an astute investor.

Higgins is an author and historian who is working on a complete history of the US financial system and recently published an article in Financial History magazine about Hetty Green and why he says she was the best investor in US history.

Nasdaq is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its launch with a new digital exhibit created in partnership with New York's Museum of American Finance. The exhibit will highlight the stories and artifacts from the company, which debuted on this date in 1971 as the first fully electronic quotation system. It will also trace the evolution of financial technology, data and trading systems, along with the key historic moments where Nasdaq's impact resonated in the global capital markets.

Author Joel Greenblatt shares his thoughts with Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the Fordham Gabelli School, and David Cowen, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Museum of American Finance, at a program on September 29, 2020.

The impact of past pandemics on the US economy and markets has important lessons for today, as does the record growth in both monetary and fiscal stimulus. MoAF Trustee Consuelo Mack interviews MoAF Chairman Dr. Richard Sylla on this timely episode of  WealthTrack.

Two compelling stories unfolded at the Fordham University McNally Amphitheater on Wednesday evening, March 4.  One was how Jim Simons and his colleagues at the firm Renaissance Technologies became “the greatest money makers in the history of modern finance.” The other: the experiences of Wall Street author Greg Zuckerman during the writing of his bestseller, The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution (Portfolio/Penguin, 2019). During the event, sponsored by the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis in partnership with the Museum of American Finance, Zuckerman explained his reasons for writing the book.  

The Museum of American Finance and the New York City Department of Records and Information Services are hosting an exhibit, “Ebb & Flow: Tapping into the History of New York City’s Water,” at the Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers through September 1.

The Museum of American Finance (MOAF) and the Municipal Archives have opened a new exhibit: “Ebb & Flow: Tapping into the History of New York City’s Water,” in the 31 Chambers Street gallery. As part of the exhibit, co-curators, Maura Ferguson, Director of Exhibits, MOAF, and Sarah Poole, Collections Manager, MOAF tell the fascinating story of how a private water company, founded by Aaron Burr in 1799, evolved into the largest bank in the United States today.

Read full blog post here.

In 1791, two great minds clashed over an issue of constitutional and historical significance. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson tried to make the case to President George Washington for and against having a national, central bank. Hamilton saw the central bank as the key to America’s economic future, whereas Jefferson worried about the consolidation of power and thought a central bank was unconstitutional. In this episode of POLICYbrief, two experts--David Cowen, President/CEO of the Museum of American Finance, and Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Professor of Economics at Loyola University--explain and analyze this 200-year-old debate that still has relevance today.

Someone turning on the financial news for the very first time might get the impression that Wall Street isn’t a market but rather an animal parade: bulls and bears, hawks and doves, dead cats and doomed sheep, and so on. Stock market animal references reach back to the early days of Wall Street. But what exactly does all the animal-based market slang mean?

Trust in money is implicit, but when money is manipulated, trust is lost, leading to economic and social instability and human suffering. Such is the basis of an award-winning PBS documentary, “In Money We Trust?,” which was screened at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business Lincoln Center campus in a program presented in partnership with the Museum of American Finance on November 11.

For the 90th anniversary of Black Thursday, TIME spoke to financial historian Richard Sylla, a Professor Emeritus of Economics and the former Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets at New York University Stern School of Business and Chairman of the board of the Museum of American Finance in New York City.

Just a few days before NYC Climate Week was set to begin, CEOs and academic thought leaders on corporate sustainability took part in a Sustainability Panel at the McNally Amphitheater, underscoring the potential for finance and private wealth to be recognized as important agents for social and environmental change. The program was part of the Museum of American Finance Evening Lecture Series in partnership with Fordham Gabelli School of Business.

Sustainability is no longer a fringe issue for large corporations, and on September 19, 2019, the Museum of American Finance hosted a fireside chat and panel discussion on the future of corporate decision making as it relates to environmental, social and governance concerns. 

In honor of National Financial Awareness Day, MoAF President/CEO David Cowen explores the history of US finance with Jill Maladrino on Trade Talks, live from the Nasdaq MarketSite.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Bloomberg introduces American women who made history in finance, investing and economics, some of who were featured in the Museum's "Women of Wall Street" exhibit.

New York Business Journal's coverage of the 2019 Museum of American Finance Gala.

Bloomberg's coverage of the Museum's 2019 honoring Laurence Fink and Dr. Janet Yellen.

Read American Banker's coverage of the Museum's recent "Democratizing Finance" event.