Financial Revolution Research Articles

Amy M. Froide, Silent Partners. Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690–1750. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2016

Amy M. Froide, Silent Partners. Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690–1750. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2016

‘The whole art of war is reduced to money’: remittances, short-term credit and financial intermediation in Anglo-Dutch military finance, 1688–1713

The literature on the financial revolution and the rise of the English fiscal-military state frequently gives the impression that a singular set of reforms emanating from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 changed the entire landscape of English army finances, allowing a fundamental shift from patchwork solutions based on short-term credit and managed through a system of wholesale venality to a solid system of long-term funded loans raised on an impersonal market. This article focuses on the crucial role that merchant networks and the personal connections of financial intermediaries continued to play in international troop payments arranged by the English state through the Dutch Republic. Even when the English or Dutch treasuries could find the necessary money to pay and provision the troops in time, getting the money to the military commanders in the field or to their distant suppliers often depended on long and complex credit lines. Short-term loans acquired in making military expenditure – consisting of unpaid bills to suppliers, payments advanced by officials and officers, and temporary loans contracted by financial intermediaries – as well as the widespread reliance on commercial credit in the form of bills of exchange as a way to transfer funds effectively formed the life thread of army finance. The ability to finance the military in times of exploding costs and permanent emergencies without defaulting rested not only on the capacity to draw on financial resources at home, but also on the strength of commercial and financial networks abroad. In doing so, closeness to the centres of emerging international financial capitalism seems to have been of greater importance than a specific set of institutional innovations.

Cryptocurrency: Financial Revolution or a Threat to the Financial System

The article provides an analytical overview of cryptocurrencies, the dynamics of bitcoin from the origin to the present time. The specific risks of the virtual currencies use were identified.Keywords: bitcoin, cryptocurrency, risks, electronic money; financial technology.

Amy M. Froide. Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690–1750.

Amy M. Froide. Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690–1750.

Toushi-Shakai no Bokkou—Zaisei-Kinyuu Kakumei no Hukyu to Igirisu (The Rise of the Investing Society—The Spread of the Financial Revolution in Britain), written by Yuichiro Sakamoto

Toushi-Shakai no Bokkou—Zaisei-Kinyuu Kakumei no Hukyu to Igirisu (The Rise of the Investing Society—The Spread of the Financial Revolution in Britain), written by Yuichiro Sakamoto

Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain's Financial Revolution, 1690–1750. By Amy M. Froide. Oxford University Press. 2016. xi + 225pp. £60.00.

Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain's Financial Revolution, 1690–1750. By Amy M. Froide. Oxford University Press. 2016. xi + 225pp. £60.00.

Apple Pay & Digital Wallets in Mexico and the United States: Illusion or Financial Revolution?

Apple Pay and digital wallets have gained popularity since the fall of 2014. Perceiving Apple Pay & digital wallets as a financial revolution at this moment might be a mistake. The following study shows that it is just the evolution of a payment system in Mexico and the United States of America, a system that opened the door to a possible future financial revolution. Current financial regulation in Mexico and the United States of America is not accurately applied; therefore, proper guidelines or amendments in financial regulations should be issued by financial authorities in order to mend the loopholes in the law.

1688 and all that: Property rights, the Glorious Revolution and the rise of British capitalism

In a seminal 1989 article, Douglass North and Barry Weingast argued that by making the monarch more answerable to Parliament, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 helped to secure property rights in England and stimulate the rise of capitalism. Similarly, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson later wrote that in the English Middle Ages there was a “lack of property rights for landowners, merchants and proto-industrialists” and the “strengthening” of property rights in the late 17th century “spurred a process of financial and commercial expansion”. There are several problems with these arguments. Property rights in England were relatively secure from the 13th century. A major developmental problem was not the security of rights but their feudal nature, including widespread “entails” and “strict settlements”. 1688 had no obvious direct effect on property rights. Given these criticisms, what changes promoted the rise of capitalism? A more plausible answer is found by addressing the post-1688 Financial and Administrative Revolutions, which were pressured by the enhanced needs of war and Britain’s expanding global role. Guided by a more powerful Parliament, this new financial system stimulated reforms to landed property rights, the growth of collateralizable property and saleable debt, and thus enabled the Industrial Revolution.

Cities in the Era of Globalization: Positioning Global Cities in International Political Economy

Cities are the dynamic analytical entities of research that involve interactions of economic, social, political, and cultural arenas, associating themselves with the process of industrialization, globalization, technological advancements, and financial revolution. Conceptually, the global cities are the pivotal points of production, manufacturing, connecting three levels of international relations: local, national, and global, providing a broader lens to view the international politics. Emphasis on global cities challenges the statist domination of the international relations framework, thus making the discipline multiscalar (regional, national, and global). The article aims to analyze the role of cities in accelerating capital flows, attracting labor and technological upgradation calling for flexible adjustments in the national government policies in the era of globalization. It will delve into the conceptualization of global cities, strategic role they play in national and international economy, and how critical and significant they are for the flourishing of global capitalism. The core research puzzle is to identify the rise of cities in international political economy and the examination of power, dominance, and the transformation of cities vis-à-vis the changing role of the states.

Harbingers of modernity: monetary injections and European economic growth, 1492–1790

In this dissertation I assess some of the effects for the early modern European economy which resulted from the large-scale discovery and exploitation of precious metals in the New World. I argue that the monetary injections which were a direct result of the increased precious metals availability were an important cause of stimulus for several early modern European economies. The thesis mainly consists of three papers. In the first paper I argue variation in production of precious metals in America can be helpful to identifying the causal effects of money in a macroeconomic setting. Using a panel of six European countries for the period 1531-1790, I find strong reduced-form evidence in favor of non-neutrality of money for changes in real economic activity. The magnitudes are substantial and persist for a long time: an exogenous 10% increase in production of precious metals in America leads to a hump-shaped positive response of real GDP, peaking at an average increase of 1.3% four years later. The evidence suggests this is because prices responded to monetary injections only with considerable lags. The following two chapters are focused on different aspects of the measurement and analysis of the causal effects of the monetary injections for the English economy. In the second paper, I put forward new data on annual coin supply for England over the long run. This is offered not only as a data construction exercise within the specific context of England, but also as a methodological contribution which in principle can be reproduced for some other countries. Finally, in the third paper, I present a historical discussion of the long-term effects of the early modern monetary injections in the context of the English economy. I show the increased availability of precious metals led to liquidity injections which matter for our understanding of the English industrious, industrial, and financial revolutions during early modern period.

Amy M. Froide . Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain's Financial Revolution, 1690–1750. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. 225. $90.00 (cloth).

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The Banking Habits of Eighteenth-Century Authors: Pope and Others

It is more than two decades since literary scholars first began exploring the impact of the eighteenth-century financial revolution, especially the general extension of credit, on literary culture of the period. Yet one humble aspect of this revolution has rarely been appreciated by literary scholars: the growth of personal banking. Anyone who has searched through eighteenth-century banking ledgers will be aware of the growth of the customer base over the course of the period, with some of this additional business being supplied by writers and other members of the literary trade. The purpose of my article is to shed light on how eighteenth-century writers managed their affairs through the services afforded by banks, as well as in some cases through entering into financial arrangements outside the banking sector. The most eminent literary figure of the early eighteenth century was undoubtedly Pope, who was sufficiently successful for the protection and investment of his earnings to present a considerable logistical problem. Although he benefited from informal banking services provided by wealthy friends, he still opened at least six bank accounts with different providers over the course of his life. My article concludes by taking Pope’s personal banking habits as a case-study, seeking to understand these as a discrete aspect of how he managed his professional career. Overall, I hope this essay will assist future scholarship by identifying some of the rewards and pitfalls of using bank archival material as a source for literary enquiry.

Colonial Taiwan's Financial Revolution

Under imperial Japanese rule, Taiwan experienced a relatively high rate of economic growth, and this growth is often attributed to well‐planned development policies. This paper argues that Taiwan's success was primarily due to the glut of money that flowed into the Japanese Empire during World War One. Taiwanese had suffered from limited access to credit, but, during the war, the Japanese‐controlled Bank of Taiwan had to find an outlet for the huge inflow of funds and greatly expanded lending to native Taiwanese. This unscripted experiment was a success, and continued access to formal capital markets allowed Taiwanese agriculture to takeoff.

Sean D. Moore, Swift, the Book, and the Irish Financial Revolution : Satire and Sovereignty in Colonial Ireland, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010., xi+268pp.

Sean D. Moore, Swift, the Book, and the Irish Financial Revolution : Satire and Sovereignty in Colonial Ireland, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010., xi+268pp.

Uneven and combined confusion: on the geopolitical origins of capitalism and the rise of the west

This article offers a critique of Alexander Anievas and Kerem Nişancioğlu’s How the West came to rule: the geopolitical origins of capitalism. We argue that while all historiography features a number of silences, shortcomings or omissions, the omissions in How the West came to rule lead to a mistaken view of the emergence of capitalism. There are two main issues to be confronted. First, we argue that Anievas and Nişancioğlu have an inadequate and misleading understanding of “capital” and “capitalism” that tilts them towards a theoretical stance that comes very close to arguing that everything caused capitalism while at the same time having no clear and convincing definition of “capital” or “capitalism”. Second, there are at least three omissions—particular to England/Britain within a geopolitical context—that should be discussed in any attempt to explain the development of capitalism: the financial revolution and the Bank of England; the transition to coal energy; and the capitalization of state power as it relates to war, colonialism and slavery. We conclude by calling for a connected-histories approach within the framework of capital as power.

Review of 'Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690-1750'

Review of 'Silent Partners: Women as Public Investors during Britain’s Financial Revolution, 1690-1750'

How the Current Digital Financial Revolution in East African Region Can Contribute to Saving Banks from Economic Stress and Collapse

How the Current Digital Financial Revolution in East African Region Can Contribute to Saving Banks from Economic Stress and Collapse

Developmental State or Developmental Market? The Cameron-Clegg Government’s Response to the Financial Crisis

The policies and actions of the Cameron-Clegg government, and its successor single party Conservative government led by David Cameron since its victory at the 7 May 2015 General Election, should not be seen in isolation. Since May 1979, successive United Kingdom governments have claimed to be restoring an entrepreneur-led enterprise culture, based upon a ‘developmental market’ political rhetoric and agenda. However, this article argues that successive United Kingdom governments from Thatcher to Cameron have in fact reflected a developmental state tradition which can be traced back to England’s financial revolution during the seventeenth century. Where late industrializing economies have pursued a developmental state strategy based upon the nurturing of competitive advantage in civilian manufacturing industries, England (and latterly the United Kingdom) has pursued a developmental state strategy founded upon competitive advantage in financial markets and military industries. It is this developmental state tradition which can account for the British state’s provision of a £1.162 trillion bailout of United Kingdom banks, and the fiscal austerity implemented since May 2010. Rather than having been shaped by a developmental market, as the basis for a Hayekian constitution of liberty, the United Kingdom’s government’s response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis has witnessed not a rolling back but a wholesale redefinition of the role of the British state through the passage of laws and legislation designed to defend the interests and deal with the consequences of the exercise of arbitrary market power. In this sense, in the words of Philip Mirowski, the United Kingdom government has not let the 2008 crisis go to waste.

Learning from the Malaysian Experience: Overcoming the Regulatory Challenges in the Nascent Takaful Practice Innigeria

The Islamic insurance (<em>Takaful</em>) introduced in March, 2013, was specifically meant to bridge the endemic insurance gap in Nigeria by engendering deepening insurance penetration and financial inclusion of the hitherto underserved and uninsured huge Muslim clientele. However, the <em>Takaful</em> Operational Guidelines and a host of other enabling insurance instruments are caught up in a web of regulatory conflict and ambiguity. The legal effect of this is a huge regulatory vacuum that is bound to impact negatively on capital investment climate, breed mistrust and uncertainty and discourage participation in the nascent <em>Takaful</em> industry. Nigeria would need to draw from the vast experiences of Malaysia in order to overcome these challenges. Nigeria and Malaysia are both former British colonies with diverse ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds. They both practice divergent legal systems in a secular setting. Both have sizeable numbers of Muslim population. While Malaysia is considered the hub of <em>Takaful</em> practice in the world, Nigeria is just an emerging market in the now trending Islamic financial revolution. This paper examines the enormous general and regulatory challenges the nascent Nigerian <em>Takaful </em>practice will encounter in its quest to attain sustainability and vibrancy. The methodology of the study is both doctrinal and qualitative whilst employing non-random sampling technique. The study employs both primary and secondary sources of information and interviews where appropriate. The study finds the need for a review and harmonization of all the enabling insurance instruments in Nigeria, transforming the current business models and improving practices in the insurance sector to enhance the application of <em>Takaful</em>. The study recommends the enactment of a Takaful Act like that of Malaysia.

Jealousy of Credit: John Law’s “System” and the Geopolitics of Financial Revolution

Jealousy of Credit: John Law’s “System” and the Geopolitics of Financial Revolution