Abstract
Economic historians have of late been preoccupied with mapping out and dating the "Great Divergence" between north-western Europe and China. However, relatively few studies have examined the path dependencies of either region insofar as the dynamics 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 article is designed to highlight the need for such a comprehensive scholarly undertaking by tracing 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 modem English and Chinese economies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 103-137 |
Number of pages | 35 |
Journal | Journal of Chinese Studies |
Volume | 55 |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Keywords
- China
- Europe
- coinage
- coins
- metallurgy
- mints
- money
- steam-engines