Charles Ponzi - the father of Ponzi schemes

For nearly thirty years, extremely low interest rates in Japan have made the yen one of the world’s most important funding currencies. Investors have borrowed cheap yen and invested the money in higher-yielding assets around the world. But as the Bank of Japan raises interest rat ...  Show more

For decades, Intel was one of the most dominant companies in the global technology industry. Its processors powered the majority of personal computers, and its ability to both design and manufacture its own chips gave the company a major competitive advantage. But a series of str ...  Show more

On this episode of Our American Stories, Charles Ponzi didn’t invent the Ponzi scheme, but he made it famous and gave it his name. Jonathan Small, host of the Write About Now podcast, shares the fascinating true story of one of history’s most notorious con artists. Support the sh ...  Show more

To find out how the scheme is operating in the present, we go back to how it all started. We know that two Swiss businessmen had bought Maria’s name and image to add legitimacy to their mailing scheme and launch letters across Europe. But who were these men? What motivated them t ...  Show more

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers kick off Slate Money’s series on some of the biggest financial scandals in recent history. This week they are joined by Joe Berlinger, director of “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street”. Berlinger tells the Slate Money crew about Madof ...  Show more

Sam Israel had a problem. The investors in his hedge fund, Bayou Capital, were expecting spectacular returns. Sam himself had spent years proclaiming the fund's brilliant results. But in reality, Sam had been marking his own homework, publishing fraudulent accounts and using thes ...  Show more