If you don't have time to read the entire article, this is the conclusion, they don't even need to go that far back in history... as Dan pointed out with the BitShares experience:
"The blockchain-y reinvention of everything in the financial world -- money, contracts, companies -- is fascinating and impressive and, viewed from a certain angle, adorable. But sometimes it could stand to learn from what has gone before. After all, the elements of finance -- money, contracts, companies -- have already been invented. Perhaps their historical development might hold some lessons for their re-inventors."
Modern finance is definitely cutting edge... says nobody.
That's why fintech is the hottest investment of 2016
Yip, modern finance can definitely do with some "modernization" but the underlying principles generally remain the same, its usually the execution of those principles that changes.