Title: Risky business
Description: Describes how, as recession enfolded Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, the economic axis shifted to the Islamic world, where the concept of risk management was born. Explores the Muslim commercial empire in Egypt, the reemergence of trade in northwestern Europe with the waning of the Dark Ages, and the rise of banking and sophisticated accounting methods among the Italian states. Discusses subjects ranging from centuries-old financial records preserved in Cairo's Ben Ezra synagogue to Venetian maritime trade.
Subjects: Economic history, Banks and banking, History
Time periods: Medieval, 500-1500