Looking at economic history to provide insight for the markets today.
How did credit relations transform from community-based moral networks to abstract financial systems? This comprehensive analysis traces the evolution from Pepys' 'reckoning' to the Bank of England's balance sheets, revealing how trust shifted from personal reputation to institutional promises.
Long before the London Stock Exchange existed, merchants gathered in coffee houses like Lloyd's and Jonathan's to trade securities, arrange insurance, and conduct business. These establishments became the informal financial centers that would eventually evolve into the world's most important markets.
While 'The Wealth of Nations' is famous for the "invisible hand," Smith's true revolutionary insight was his systematic analysis of how individual self-interest could serve the common good. This article explores the philosophical foundations that underpinned the birth of modern economic thinking.
Founded in 1694 to finance William III's war against France, the Bank of England accidentally created the template for modern central banking. This is the story of how a wartime expedient became the foundation of global finance.
How a trading company became more powerful than most nations, controlling armies, minting currency, and governing territories. The East India Company's rise and fall reveals the potential and dangers of unchecked corporate power in the early capitalist era.
William Hogarth's engravings captured the social tensions of Britain's economic transformation with devastating wit. From 'Marriage A-la-Mode' to 'Gin Lane,' his work provides an unparalleled window into how ordinary people experienced the rise of capitalism.