1• Birth of Monetary Units in the Bronze Age
Taxation-redistribution with a hint of market economy around 3500 BC
Values for exchanges
Counting in intermediate-commodities
From intermediate-commodities to silver‑ounce money
Historical Correlation: Intermediate-commodities or protomoney, and the Bronze Age
2• Coins: Catalyst of Antiquity
Coins after 640 BC
Coins by weight in Greek marketplaces
Coinage: cement of empires
Moneychangers: guarantors of coin value
Banking as an offshoot of money in antiquity
Historical Correlation: Coins: “sinew of war” for empires or peacemaker for civilization?
3• The Roman Empire and Coin Multiplication
Financial concerns within the Empire in the 1st century AD
Quick fixes to treasury crises in the 1st century AD
Inflation in the late 1st century AD
Winners and losers of price inflation
Economic stagnation in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD
The Crisis of the 3rd Century AD
Failure to curb inflation in the late 3rd century AD
Inflation circumvented, reviving the Empire during the 4th century AD
Historical Correlation: Monetary obstacles contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire
4• From Coin Shortages during the Middle Ages to Banking and the Renaissance
Coin reappearance in Western Europe from the 7th to the 12th century
Coins transmuted in the 12th and 13th centuries
The economic decline of the 14th century combining with deflation in the 15th century
Deflation alleviated by banking in the 14th and 15th centuries
Deflation, bill of exchange and the Renaissance in the 15th century
Slight inflation in the 16th century, and economic improvement
Inflation limited by mercantilism in the 16th century
Historical Correlation: Contrasted evolution with or without banks
5• From Printing Banknotes to the Industrial Revolution
Scarcity of coins in the 17th century
Appearance of the banknote in the 17th century
Loan multiplication and the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century
The Bank of England and its banknotes in the 18th century
Historical Correlation: Industrial Revolution and banknotes
6• Failures and Successes of Paper Banknotes in the 18th century
Banknotes discredited in France after 1720
Debacle of the “continentals” in the US around 1780
Collapse of the assignats of the French Revolution
The French Revolutionary Wars and the British banknotes
Napoleon and the Continental Blockade
Historical Correlation: Monetary mismanagement and the Crowns of England and France
7• Banknotes, the Gold Standard and Economic Cycles in the 19th century
Brief economic depression in Great Britain around 1820
Expansion of the Industrial Revolution across Europe after 1830
Economic cycles discerned in the 19th century
Expansion of the Gold Standard after 1873
Deflation between 1873 and 1896
End of British supremacy in the late 19th century
Historical Correlation: Deflation in the late 19th century and the fever of nationalism
Disruptions to the Gold Standard during World War I
Hyperinflation in Germany
Stock exchange crash of 1929
Theories of Keynes around 1930
Tentative Keynesian experiments in Europe during the 1930s
Keynesian theories in the US after 1932
Spectacular economic recovery in Nazi Germany after 1933
World War II and monetary battles
Bretton Woods Conference in 1944
The post-war “Golden Age of Capitalism”
Historical Correlation: Keynes on the sidelines and Schacht in the limelight during the Great Depression
9• The Rise of Monetarism
End of the gold convertibility of the dollar after 1971
New soul and origin of money
Currency devaluations after 1973
Inflation and unemployment crisis after 1974
The fight against inflation to restore economic growth around 1980
“Reaganomics” in the US after 1980
Dollars like gold coins after 1980
European currencies stabilized before the introduction of the euro in 1999
Historical Correlation: The US tamps down inflation and its economy dominates the world
10• Troubles with Monetarism
First economic trouble in 1990
Second trouble in 2001
Third trouble: the financial crisis of 2008
Fourth trouble: persistent inequalities post‑2008
Fifth trouble: the crises of Covid-19 and the Ukraine War
Historical Correlation: In search of a broader solution
11• Alternative Currencies: Escaping the Government
The black market: a ceiling on taxation
Cryptocurrencies: evading monetary controls
Historical Correlation: Economists overlook parallel economies and their potential to reduce inequalities
12• A New Currency for a Parallel Economy
Taxes on green products: entangled in the system
A tax-free parallel market
A new gray-money to supervise the green‑market
Make the rich pay more
Historical Correlation: A monetary solution to reduce inequalities and contain global warming?