Banking Collapses - A History. Why they Happen and How to Avoid them in the Future Artwork

Rearview Mirror Chronicles

Keith Hockton, FRAS, is a publisher, podcaster, writer and author based in Penang, Malaysia. He is South East Asian Editor for International Living, a lifestyle based magazine. He lectures internationally on history and Malaysia and is passionate about making history fun and accessible to all. Keith is a Fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

His published books include:

• Atlas of Australian Dive Sites - Travellers Edition (Harper Collins Australia, 2003).

• Penang - An inside guide to its historic homes, buildings, monuments and parks (MPH Publishing, 2012; 2nd Edition 2014; 3rd Edition 2017).

• Festivals of Malaysia (Trafalgar Publishing, 2015).

• The Habitat Penang Hill: a pocket history (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)

• Alana and the Secret Life of Trees at Night (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)

• Penang Then & Now: A Century of Change in Pictures (Entrepot Publishing, 2019; 2nd Edition 2021)

• Bersama Lima - Five Together (Entrepot Publishing, 2022)

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Rearview Mirror Chronicles

Banking Collapses - A History. Why they Happen and How to Avoid them in the Future

February 18, 2025 • #HistoryPodcast,#FinancialHistory,#BankingCrises,#EconomicCollapse,#LessonsFromHistory,#HistoryRepeatsh,#Rome33AD,#SouthSeaBubble,#LehmanBrothers,#2008FinancialCrisis,#StockMarketCrash#,MoneyMatters,#FinanceFails,#HistoryMatters,#LearnFromThePast,#AvoidTh • Season 1 • Episode 79

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Money makes the world go ‘round… until it doesn’t.

From the financial districts of ancient Rome to the stock exchanges of London and the skyscrapers of Wall Street, history has been shaped—again and again—by catastrophic banking failures. When credit dries up, confidence crumbles, and fortunes vanish overnight, the same question always follows: How did we let this happen?

In today’s episode of Rearview Mirror Chronicles, we’re diving deep into three of history’s most infamous financial meltdowns—a Roman liquidity crisis in 33 AD that sent senators scrambling, the speculative mania of the South Sea Bubble in 1720 that left thousands in ruin, and the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, which triggered the worst global recession since the Great Depression.

But history isn’t just about looking back—it’s about learning. What can these disasters teach us? And more importantly, how can we avoid repeating them?

Buckle up. The financial rollercoaster is about to begin.