The Great Money Divergence
The Great Money Divergence
European and Chinese Coinage before the Age of Steam
Economic historians have of late been preoccupied with mapping out and dating the “Great Divergence” between northwestern Europe and China. However, relatively few studies have examined the path dependencies of either region, the dynamics of monetization, the spread of fiduciary currency, or their implications for financial factor prices and domestic-market integration before the discovery of the New World. This chapter is designed to highlight the need for such a comprehensive scholarly undertaking by tracing out the varying modes of coin production and circulation across Eurasia before steam engines came on stream and by examining what the implications of this currency divergence might be for our understanding of the early modern English and Chinese economies.
Keywords: Matthew Boulton, tongyuan, copper “cash”, daqian, “big cash”, debasement, vellon, billon, “black money”, Venice
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