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When accountants walked with kings: Jacob Soll’s The Reckoning

Hosted by Courtney Vien

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2017. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Accounting history is a lot more exciting than you realize. Historian and MacArthur Fellow Jacob Soll, author of The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations, discusses the vital role accounting played in the French and American revolutions.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why accounting was once considered essential knowledge for courtiers and statesmen.
  • How a celebrity accountant triggered the French Revolution.
  • Why Benjamin Franklin may have written his autobiography in a ledger book.
  • What happens in eras when financial literacy is low and accounting isn’t valued.

Play the episode below: