A History of American Currency

A History of American Currency PDF

Author: William Graham Sumner

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2005-03-01

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1596050810

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A fascinating but often overlooked topic is the establishment of currency in a new nation. The process involves not only a host of unknown and complicated political factors, but also economics and the culture of the new nation. In A History of American Currency, Yale Professor William G. Sumner examines the development of the monetary system in the United States, from the colonial era through the Civil War. He noted that the earliest British settlers brought with them virtually no money; the English government wouldn't allow it, and the Puritans had little or no use for it. Gradually, the settlers traded wampumpeag with their Native American neighbors, and eventually currency was developed to pay soldiers, finance expeditions, and trade with other nations. Sumner also covers the English Bank Restriction of 1797, the Bullion Report of 1810, and the development of Austrian paper money.WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER was a professor of political and social science at Yale University and became known as a Social Darwinist and advocate of the laissez faire principle in economics. Besides writing a number of books on sociology, history, and economics, he was also influential in the movement to modernize the American university system.

History of Money

History of Money PDF

Author: Glyn Davies

Publisher: University of Wales Press

Published: 2010-09-15

Total Pages: 1069

ISBN-13: 1783162767

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An account of the central importance of money in the ordinary business of the life of different people throughout the ages from ancient times to the present day. It includes the Barings crisis and the report by the Bank of England on Barings Bank; information on the state of Japanese banking; and, the changes in the financial scene in the US.

A History of American Currency

A History of American Currency PDF

Author: William Sumner

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-10

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9781493551309

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LARGE PRINT EDITION! More at LargePrintLiberty.com. The author, William Graham Sumner, was the great sociologist of late 19th century America, but also a wise observer of economic conditions. In 1874, in the midst of another debate about the future of the American monetary system, he offered this sweeping history of the calamity of paper money in the United States from the Colonial Period to the Civil War. In many ways, it is a popular history in the sense that he hoped it could be read by anyone. What's strike here is his "Austrian" understanding of the relationship of paper money to credit cycles, inflation, and corruption. He was a firm advocate of sound money and 100% reserve banking. His lesson was that paper currency leads to a trap: continued crisis, hyperinflation, or the restoration of sound money. This pattern has been repeated again and again. The burden of this book is to show that there is nothing good to come out of any paper money experiment, and that sound money is the only answer in a free society. So there is profound historical interest in these pages--he was writing at a time when these issues were debated in all campaigns and classrooms--but also excellent theorizing too. Indeed, this work demonstrates that Sumner was not only a pioneering American sociologist but also one of the great American pre-Austrians of the late 19th century.