Prof Albrecht Ritschl SAR 6.06

This course is available as an outside option to students on non-Economic History programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

The course provides an introduction into monetary and financial history from the 18th century to the present day. It examines the main developments in international monetary architecture and the global financial system since the Glorious Revolution. The course is designed to introduce students to major concepts of money and finance (financial development, financial integration, monetary policy, banking crises etc.) and to provide a long run perspective to the current policy debate.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the WT.

There will be a Reading Week in Week 6 of WT.

The students will produce one formative essay. The exercise will help them practise academic writing (structuring and presenting arguments, providing explanations, referencing etc.); a skill helpful for the exam of this course that will take place in the spring exam period. Students will also give a formative class presentation to practice presenting complex arguments to their peers and answering questions from the audience.

1. Neal, L. The Rise of Financial Capitalism, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1990.

2. Eichengreen, B. (1992), Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939, Oxford (Oxford University Press).3. Eichengreen, B. (2008), Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System, Princeton (Princeton University Press).

4. Friedman, M. and A. Schwartz (1963), A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, Princeton (Princeton University Press).

5. Kindleberger, C. P. (2005), Manias, Panics and Crashes. A History of Financial Crises, 5th edition, New York: Macmillan.

6. Reinhart, C. and K. Rogoff (2009), This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Princeton (Princeton University Press).

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.