As recession enfolded Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, the economic axis shifted to the Islamic world, where the concept of risk management was born. This program, hosted by Peter Jay, explores the Muslim commercial empire in Egypt, the reemergence of trade in northwestern Europe with the waning of the Dark Ages, and the rise of banking and sophisticated accounting methods among the Italian states. Stefan Reif, of Cambridge University Library, and historians Christopher Dyer and Rheinhold Mueller discourse on subjects ranging from centuries-old financial records preserved in Cairo’s Ben Ezra synagogue to Venetian maritime trade. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)