Studying Economic History

Studying Economic History The History of Economics: What Are You Studying? ChaptersBarter EconomiesMonetary EconomiesCapitalism and Economic HistoryCommunist EconomiesSome Origins of Common Economic InstitutionsWhen you decide to study social science, you will probably need to decide what to specialise in. If you want to become a historian, you will need to decide what aspect of history you want to study. You can focus on a specific era, or you can decide to focus on a special aspect of cultural history.Economic history is one interesting aspect - how past societies assigned value to the world around them and found ways to trade and increase their perception of wealth.Here on Superprof is a little overview of the types of historical economies you might come to know as an undergraduate of Economic History.country’s true wealth can be seen in trade.BanksThe first concept of banking emerged when merchants would give grain loans to farmers. In Renaissance Italy, the rise of the merchant empires meant that people needed loans on risky enterprises and ready acc ess to money far from home.Moneylenders invented interest rates - and were some of the first bankers. Photo credit: jean louis mazieres on Foter.comIn the seventeenth and eighteenth century, many merchants stored their gold with the goldsmiths of London - they would store the gold in their private vaults for a fee and issue receipts that could only be redeemed by the person they were issued to. Eventually, they would issue loans on the money with the permission of the owner (for interest) and issue promissory notes on loan capital that could be passed on to others - an early form of paper money.Britain was a pioneer in banking reform, including the first banknotes from the Bank of England; with the first overdraft facility at the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Rothschilds for their part first brought international finance into large-scale projects by helping to finance the Suez Canal.