Paper money was first used by the Chinese during the Tang Dynasty in 806 AD–500 years before Europe began printing money in the 17th century. It would be another 100 years before America started circulating a national paper currency.... How familiar are you with banknotes from around the world?

Below is an interactive map of the 22 countries that make up Eastern Europe providing a snapshot of, and interesting facts about, each of the counties. Below is an interactive map of the 22 countries that make up Eastern Europe providing a snapshot of, and interesting facts about, each of the counties. If you want a fast and interesting geography lesson then this is it!

Everyone is talking about emerging markets, and their masses of people, resource-rich lands and rising economic stature [with many] saying that they will be the economic superpowers of the next century. How much do you know about emerging markets? Take our interactive quiz and find out.

Coal, hydroelectric and oil are increasingly in high demand to meet the world’s growing appetite for power. In fact, global energy consumption grew 5.6 percent in 2010, the highest rate since 1973. Discover 10 other fascinating facts about worldwide consumption in this informative slide show.

Analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch have created the Global Wave, a compilation of seven global indicators designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of trends in global economic activity. The compiled data allows investors to predict equity market performance and...[it indicates that there is an 86% liklihood that we will experience a 14.2% increase, on average, in the performance of global stock markets in the next 12 months. Read more about the "Global Wave" below.] Words: 462

Natural resources are the building blocks of the world, essential to progress and prosperity. These commodities, like all investments, can have wide price fluctuations over time. The interactive table provided shows the ebb and flow of commodity prices over the past decade and illustrates the principle of mean reversion—the concept that returns eventually move back towards their mean or average. [Take a look.]

Gold-producing countries are found on nearly all continents, and represent the gamut of economies from developed super-powers to small, emerging market countries. With gold’s spectacular rise in price and related demand, it’s worth your time to know a little bit about where all the gold comes from.

It is easy to be branded a Cassandra when one has nothing but negative forecasts but so be it - it is what I see and believe. It is more palatable to be wrong in a distinguished crowd than as a lone nut, however, so I offer below quotes from 17 others about the coming global financial collapse that will make your stand up. Words: 1226

The disaster in Europe should be pushing the U.S. dollar up more than it is but it’s not, and that has me deeply worried. [I'm] worried that the next leg of the dollar’s decline may be right around the corner; worried that the loss of the dollar’s reserve-currency status could occur more quickly than even I had expected and worried that the “X&@!” may soon hit the fan, across the entire globe. [Let me explain.] Words: 600

Though the complexities may appear endless, the global economy's coming implosion is really fairly easy to understand: here are four charts which do the heavy lifting. Words: 445