Does scientific, artistic or political brilliance make for investing success? It’s a timely question, with hedge funds accused of drawing talent away from the wider economy. Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth join reporter Toby Nangle, who explores the portfolios of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, John Maynard Keynes and other celebrated geniuses. What he found, including one historical wildcard, may surprise you.

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Long before modern economics, rulers such as Hammurabi faced a problem that still haunts economies today: when debts grow faster than people can repay them, the system starts to strain. His solution was radical: cancel debts entirely. Amanda H Podany joins Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth to explain what these Mesopotamian debt jubilees reveal about the ancient economy and what they might teach us about debt today.

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