Dictionary lookups statistics is a way to identify the subjects that interest people. Therefore the Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year 2008 shows the huge impact of the financial crisis and the the US elections:

Merriam-Webster Online via kwout

I found this link via Daily Writing Tips that provides also some comments about each word.

The ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
is also a documentary in 4 parts that is actually broadcasted on Channel 4 in UK:

The Ascent of Money | Financial History | Professor Niall Ferguson | Channel 4 via kwout

In a  podcast published a few weeks ago, NPR Moneys interviewed Niall Ferguson (author of The Ascent of Money,).  I summarized below some of the key ideas highlighted in the discussion:

• Bank assets. Most of those assets are banks loans. It’s the money banks lent to their clients.  This means bank customers’ liabilities. Bank assets are their client debts
• Money is any token accepted in payment of goods and services
• The key thing is money system is trust. We believe banks have (all of) our money. But they don’t because of the fractional reserve system
• Money is a relationship between a lender and a borrower

This blog post lists 10 of the weirdest computing disaster of 2008. The extract below is labeled Number 1 and is surprising:

The weirdest computing disasters of 2008 | Tech News on ZDNet via kwout