Easy money : American Puritans and the invention of modern currency

Author(s)

    • Goldberg, Dror

Bibliographic Information

Easy money : American Puritans and the invention of modern currency

Dror Goldberg

(Markets and governments in economic history)

University of Chicago Press, 2023

  • : cloth

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-331) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

A sweeping history of the American invention of modern money. Economists endlessly debate the nature of legal tender monetary systems—coins and bills issued by a government or other authority. Yet the origins of these currencies have received little attention. Dror Goldberg tells the story of modern money in North America through the Massachusetts colony during the seventeenth century. As the young settlement transitioned to self-governance and its economy grew, the need to formalize a smooth exchange emerged. Printing local money followed. Easy Money illustrates how colonists invented contemporary currency by shifting its foundation from intrinsically valuable goods—such as silver—to the taxation of the state. Goldberg traces how this structure grew into a worldwide system in which, monetarily, we are all Massachusetts. Weaving economics, law, and American history, Easy Money is a new touchstone in the story of monetary systems.

Table of Contents

Preface   Part I. Introductions Chapter 1. Introduction to the Book Chapter 2. Money and Its Inventions: Theoretical Considerations Chapter 3. England in the Late Sixteenth Century Chapter 4. English Developments, 1584–1692   Part II. The Atlantic Chapter 5. Before 1630: Harvesters of Money Chapter 6. The Puritan Exodus, 1629–1640: General Features Chapter 7. Massachusetts Takes the Monetary Lead, 1630–1640 Chapter 8. A New Hope, 1640–1660 Chapter 9. The Empire Strikes Back, 1660–1686 Chapter 10. Governments and Paper Money Projects, 1685–1689 Chapter 11. The Massachusetts Legislator: The Case of Elisha Hutchinson Chapter 12. The Return of the General Court, 1689–1690 Summary of Part II   Part III. A Monetary Revolution Chapter 13. The Legal Tender Law, 1690 Chapter 14. Aftermath, 1691–1692 Chapter 15. Back to England’s Financial Revolution, 1692–1700 Chapter 16. Analysis Chapter 17. Conclusion Notes References Index

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