From: [Roy Davies] at [exeter.ac.uk] (Roy Davies)
Newsgroups: soc.history.moderated
Subject: History of Money on WWW
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 1995 14:54:22 -0700

I have put a series of short essays on the history of money the Web
The titles are listed below.  The URL is:

       http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/llyfr.html  

Pendulum Metatheory of Money 
     Keynesianism and monetarism have many precursors. Why does a 
     monetary theory enjoy a vogue then give way to an opposing theory 
     which in turn is displaced by a theory similar to its predecessor? 

Origins of Money 
     Money performs many functions and had many origins. Economic factors 
     were neither the only nor the most important ones in its origins. 
     Banking was invented before coins. 

Warfare and Financial History 
     From blood money payments in primitive societies to the 
     military-industrial complex of the present day developments in 
     warfare and finance have, unfortunately, been closely
     connected. 

The Significance of Celtic Coinage 
     The Celts on the Continent and in parts of Britain produced large 
     numbers of coins before the Roman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon invasions 
     put an end to minting in Britain almost completely for nearly two 
     hundred years and in Wales production of coins did not become
     common until after the English conquest. 

The Vikings and Money in England.
     Paying through the nose! The impact of Danegeld - history's 
     best-known protection racket.

Money in North American History 
     From wampum to electronic funds transfer. How the US developed from 
     a collection of colonies dependent on substitutes for coins, such 
     as wampum and tobacco, to the superpower of the almighty dollar. 

Britain and European Monetary Union 
     Why is Britain sceptical? The pound sterling has a history of 
     1,300 years. Most European currencies date back only to the end 
     of the Second World War and therefore a change of currency would 
     arouse more suspicion in Britain than on the Continent. 

Democracy and Government Control of the Money Supply 
     When coins were the predominant form of payment governments 
     controlled minting. The development of modern banking and paper 
     money broke the government monopoly of money creation and fostered 
     the growth of democracy. Will the advent of electronic money have 
     a similar significance? 

Third World Money and Debt in the Twentieth Century 
     The pressure of a rapidly expanding world population on finite 
     resources is a virtually silent explosion as far as monetarist 
     literature is concerned. The task of enabling millions of the
     world's poorest men and women to earn a decent living for themselves 
     is the greatest problem facing humanity. Reanchoring the runaway 
     currencies of many Third World countries is a prerequisite for 
     successful development. 

History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day
URL: http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/llyfr.html

Roy Davies
University of Exeter
[Roy Davies] at [exeter.ac.uk]