FTX, Dickens, and Business Fraud

In this episode, I look at FTX through the lens of two Dickens novels: Martin Chuzzlewit and Little Dorrit. Wait, don’t go! I swear, it’s more interesting than it sounds. Heh. Charles Dickens knew business fraud and the boom-and-bust of the Victorian London business scene, capturing it very well in his novels. The base motives at the heart of these schemes keep rolling on.STUMP - Meep on public finance, pensions, mortality and more is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Episode LinksMy 2014 article: Dickens and Business FraudJune 2018 post: The Wisdom of DickensPrior podcast episode: Fraudulent Life InsurersDickens ProductionsMartin ChuzzlewitThere’s a very good BBC miniseries version of Martin Chuzzlewit, which includes the Anglo-Bengalee in all its glory. That was the BritBox link, and evidently, you can buy the miniseries in streaming video. I own it on DVD.In this production, Montague Tigg/Tigg Montague is played by Pete Postlethwaite.Little DorrittSimilarly, BBC has an excellent production of Little Dorritt. Fabulous cast - Claire Foy as the title character, Matthew Macfadyen as Arthur Clennam, Andy Serkis as the malevolent Rigaud (in the novel, the character is absurd, but he makes it work). For Dickens, you always need a great ensemble cast. I just picked out the three big names, but you will recognize many of the actors if you watch a lot of BBC drama.Alas, they don’t really focus on the business fraud so much, and the whole Circumlocution Office business, which of course is the highlight of the novel for somebody like me.STUMP - Meep on public finance, pensions, mortality and more is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to STUMP - Meep on public finance, pensions, mortality and more at marypatcampbell.substack.com/subscribe