The Global Financial System 1750 2000

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We have become so used to the ubiquity and speed of our modern, global, highly integrated financial system, that it is easy to forget that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. This book traces this system's evolution from its beginnings in the 18th century, outlining the growth of financial markets and the development of bond trading, and how these paved the way for the modern stock-market. The history of international trade policies and trading blocs is explored, and the book explains how economic powers such as Britain and France used access to financial capital as leverage in wielding political power in less-developed parts of the world. It provides a history of financial crises and reveals how economic shocks reverberate from one country to another today through the global financial network. The rise of private merchant bankers is described, as is the growth of banks, the emergence of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the evolution of modern paper money, and the repercussions of criminal and illegal activities.

Reviews

This is an enjoyable, easy-to-read book and Allen effortlessly weaves a pattern from the multiple strands that have made the global economy an excellent general economic history and makes fascinating reading. * The Irish Times *

Author Bio

Larry Allen is Professor of Economics at Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, and the author of Encyclopedia of Money (1999), ABC-CLIO World History Companion to Capitalism (1998), The Global Financial System 1750-2000 (Reaktion, 2001) and The Global Economic System Since 1945 (Reaktion, 2005)