A closer look
Florence in the 1400s wasn’t just about artists painting angels—it was Silicon Valley with frescoes. Families like the Medici invented trade networks and financial instruments we still use today: credit, double-entry bookkeeping, and banking families funding risky ‘startups’ (aka expeditions across oceans). Think about that next time you open a finance app on your phone. The wild part? Complaints were the same: ‘young people today are too obsessed with easy money’ and ‘society is decadent.’ Turns out human grumbles update less than software. History might feel remote, but your debit card is a direct descendant of that messy, ambitious Florentine ecosystem.
