Amsterdam was the first city in the world with an active stock market. In some respects, it was a minor market, with a small number of participants and few publicly-traded shares. However, the practices of participants and the instruments with which they traded would be surprisingly familiar to us today. Documenting the functioning of…
After the French Revolution, the advancing armies of France’s new militant republic distressed many in Europe and some fared far worse than the continent’s merchants during these years. Nonetheless, merchants and commerce were displaced by the wars that lasted more than two decades. Yet, whatever the destruction brought by the wars, the cities that…
Communist countries in Europe developed large planning bureaucracies and the infrastructure needed to confirm and force compliance with plans. Yet, bureaucracies are not entirely fungible. These systems proved unnecessary in the new capitalist economy. However, a capitalist economy does require one bureaucracy that is not needed, at least not in anything like its usual…
While not uncontested by other Italian city-states, Venice was a candidate for the foremost financial center of Europe in the 15th century. It was not home to many financial institutions but the ones it did possess were among the largest in Europe. These were banks tied to big merchant families, often noble families. Yet,…
Various Italian city-states excelled in banking as it existed in 15th century Europe. In or around this period, Siena, Florence, Venice, and Genoa each were home to some of the largest European financial institutions of their day. Some lasted for over a century, others for only a small fraction of that time. Though the…
France was the setting of one of the largest early experiments with paper money in Europe. This experiment usually refers to the paper money introduced in France by the Scottish economist and banker John Law in the mid-to-late 1710s. This was not the true introduction of paper money in France though. The country used…
As communist countries transitioned to capitalism, numerous existing institutions lost their relevance and countries found themselves short of the institutions crucial to developing successful capitalist economies. One of these were banking institutions. Banks are important to raising and intermediating the money required by new and existing industries alike. Poland had some banks before 1989…
For decades before the First World War, the values of currencies were broadly stable. Fixed exchange rates against gold and convincing commitments by governments to maintaining the gold standard made this so. The war caused almost all countries to suspend their gold standards and many governments printed far more money and borrowed a lot…
The history of firms like Rothschild, Barings, J.P. Morgan, and others are often interchangeable with the biographies of their founders, managing partners, and other chief executives. The work of the humble bank clerk often goes unnoticed. Yet, the growth of banking in the 19th century could not have been achieved without them, and without…
The First World War tested the fiscal systems of all belligerent countries, usually in unprecedented ways. Governments had to tax more than they ever had before, they had to borrow more than they ever had before, and had to restrict their economies, including with respect to trade and foreign exchange, in ways they never…
