From: Martin Kragh (Martin.Kragh@HHS.SE)
Date: Thu Dec 07 2006 - 11:42:34 EST
Hi all, I remember someone asking on this list for some basic info on Karl H Niebyl's "Studies in the Classical Theories of Money" (Columbia University Press, 1946). I actually remember having this book in my office since I earlier was quite interested in monetary questions. The book is basically historical to its approach, and the author tries to show how the role and function of money grew out of the materialisation of commercial society. He writes: "History develops in phases, and these phases in turn are distinguished by certain characteristics. Therefore we have grown accustomed to making divisions in economic history - for instance, differentiating between feudal institutions and those of industrial capitalism. The historical phase of which our present-day monetary institutions form a part is industrial society. Each phase of social history presents its own characteristic development. Although the early changes in a new period are still overshadowed by the institutions of the preceeding period, there comes a time within this development when the young institutions have grown strong enough to be little influenced by those of the past." (p.1) The table of contents will reveal the rest I think (I do not include all subchapters in the following): PART 1 1. Methodological introduction 2. The Developing necessity for a monetary standard (production, industrial commodities, bimetallism, coinage, paper money, country banking) 3. The Genesis of banking (credit) 4. The Quantity doctrine of bullionism (Mercantilism, money and investment, state finance) PART 2 The Formulation of the Classical Quantity Theory 5. The Issues of the bullion controversy (historical background, monetary issues) 6. The Theory of Inflation (Bullionist theories, interest, general price level, effects) 7. The Economic Setting of Deflation 8. The Theory of Deflation (Character of the fall of the general price level, function of interest, savings and investment, stable monetary standard) 9. The Quantity Theory of Money (International trade, currency debates, theory of equilibrium, concept of quantity) 10. Some Conclusions on the Classical Quantity Theory of Money. What do I think of the book? Not too much to be honest. The author was obviously not a historian and theoretically it is quite basic. If you want the basic 101 of development of money (with emphasis on England) it might however be useful. Kind regards, Martin -----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Från: OPE-L [mailto:OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU] För Jurriaan Bendien Skickat: den 4 september 2006 20:48 Till: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU Ämne: [OPE-L] The longer view: the history of the universe described in 13 years While pondering the bickering about TSS, I chanced upon this item from a paper by the late Andre Gunder Frank: "Among the dating techniques and timelines, [David] Christian [in his book Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History] offers the following perspective for our recent-one second!-history within the 13.6 billion years age of our planet Earth, by converting each billion years to a scale of one year: History of the Universe before Our Sun: From 13 to ca. 4.5 Years Ago The big bang occurs ca. 13 years ago. The first stars and galaxies appear by about 12 years ago. The sun and solar system form about 4.5 years ago. History of Earth and Life on Earth: From 4 Years to ca. 3 Weeks Ago The first living organisms appear about 4 years ago. The first multicelled organisms appear about 7 months ago. Dinosaurs are driven to extinction after a meteor impact about 3 weeks ago; mammals flourish. The Paleolithic Era of Human History: From 3 Days Ago to 6 Minutes Ago First hominids evolve in Africa about 3 days ago. First Homo sapiens evolves in Africa about 50 minutes ago. First humans reach Papua New Guinea and Australia about 26 minutes ago. First humans reach the Americas about 6 minutes ago. The Holocene Era of Human History: From 6 Minutes Ago to 15 Seconds Ago First agricultural communities flourish about 5 minutes ago. First literate urban civilizations appear about 3 minutes ago. Classical civilizations of China, Persia, India, and the Mediterranean and the first agrarian civilizations in the Americas emerge about 1 minute ago. The Modern Era: The Past 15 Seconds Human communities are linked into a single "world system" about 15 seconds ago. The Industrial Revolution occurs about 6 seconds ago. The First World War is fought about 2 seconds ago. Human populations reach 5, then 6 billion; the first atomic weapons are used; humans walk on the moon; and the electronic revolution occurs, all within the last second. (pp. 502-503)" From: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/16.1/frank.html Spiritually considered, do we really have time to quarrel, considering the broader scheme of things? Jurriaan .
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