MSc Financial History

The MSc Financial History provides students with a historical and interdisciplinary perspective on the main challenges facing the global monetary and financial system and capital markets. In the last decade, the field of financial history has experienced considerable growth globally. Fifteen years of financial turmoil have led to a revival of questions and debates about money and finance and stakeholders as well as have realised how a deeper knowledge of financial history can help to better inform and guide the current policy debate.

The programme will allow students from various academic backgrounds (history, finance, economics or any related discipline) to acquire a deep understanding of the functioning of capital markets and of the conduct of monetary affairs through a historical approach. It'll train you, through the study of financial history, to think critically and deeply about monetary and financial problems.

Having successfully completed the MSc Financial History programme you will be able to:

• apply theories of money, banking and finance to concrete historical case studies from a broad range of countries
• identify the causes of monetary and financial instability and crises through a combination of quantitative and qualitative historical methods
• assess the effects of monetary and financial policies on the economy and capital markets through a historical analysis taking account of the broader economic, social, and political context
• draw parallels between various historical episodes of credit booms, financial market bubbles, inflations, and crises and identify what can be learned from them
• understand the historical origins of today’s global financial and monetary architecture
• reflect critically on the main policy debates in the areas of money and finance and on the trade-offs they involve, for example with regard to financial regulation, quantitative easing, exchange rate regimes, and capital controls
• put current monetary and financial problems into a long run perspective and analyse them with the eye of a financial historian.

The following is a list of general economic history books that you might want to take a look at before you arrive at LSE. Please note, these books are listed as a general introduction to economic history and may not appear on the reading lists of the courses that you actually take - they are presented as a starting point.

• Ahamed, L. (2009), Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Penguin Press
• Aliber, R., & Kindleberger, C. P. (2015). Manias, panics and crashes: A history of financial crises. Palgrave
• Baten, Joerg (2016), A History of the Global Economy. Cambridge
• Broadberry, S. and O’Rourke, K. (eds.) (2010), The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Cain, P. J., and A. G. Hopkins (2016), British Imperialism, 1688-2015, Routledge
• Crafts, N.F.R. and Fearon, P. (2013), The Great Depression of the 1930s: Lessons for Today, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• De Roover, R. (1974). Business, banking, and economic thought in late medieval and early modern Europe. University of Chicago Press
• Eichengreen, B. (1992), Golden Fetters, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Eichengreen, B. (2008). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System. Princeton University Press
• Eichengreen, B. (2015). Hall of mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses-and Misuses of History. Oxford University Press
• Ferguson, N. (2008). The ascent of money. A financial history of the world. Penguin
• Galbraith, J. K. (1980), The Great Crash, 1929, London: A. Deutsch
• Gorton, G. (2012), Misunderstanding Financial Crises, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Hirschman, Albert O. (2013), The Passions and the Interests: political arguments for capitalism before its triumph. Princeton
• James, H. (2001), The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression, Harvard: Harvard University Press
• Kindleberger, C. (1986), The World in Depression, 1929-1939, Berkeley: University of California Press
• King, Mervyn (2016), The End of Alchemy: money, banking and the future. Little, Brown
• Lamoreaux, N. R. (1994), Insider Lending: Banks, Personal Connections, and Economic Development in Industrial New England, New York: Cambridge University Press
• Mackenzie, D (2006), An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
• Morgan, Mary S. (2012), The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Neal L. (2015). A concise history of international finance. Cambridge University Press
• Parthasarathi, P. (2011), Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Divergence, 1600-1850, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Pomeranz, K. (2000), The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy, Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Pistor, K. (2019), The Code of Capital. How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality, Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Quinn, W., and J. Turner (2021), Boom and Bust. A Global History of Financial Bubbles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Reinhart, C.M. and Rogoff, K.S. (2009), This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Roy, T. (2012), India in the World Economy: From Antiquity to the Present (New Approaches to Asian History), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Taleb, N.N. (2007). Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable. Random House
• Tooze, A. (2018). Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. London: Penguin Books
• Trivellato, F. (2019), The Promise and Peril of Credit, Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Von Glahn, Richard (2016), The Economic History of China from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century (CUP).

LSE is home to one of the largest specialist economic history departments in the world, with 25 permanent teaching staff, as well as visiting academics and researchers.

We use social science concepts and theories as a starting point to study the evolution of real economies in their social, political and cultural contexts.

Collectively, our academics have a huge breadth and depth of knowledge, ranging from the Medieval period to the current day, and covering every world economy, from the Americas to Asia, Africa and Europe.

The department’s research interests range from social well-being to technology and finance, and from the history of economic ideas to global trade patterns. Our research has informed decision-making in numerous government departments, NGOs, and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Drawing on their research strengths, our academics hold editorial and board membership roles on many world-renowned journals (such as Cliometrica and the Economic History Review) and regularly share their insights in the national and international media.

Currently, the department offers three undergraduate degree programmes and a range of postgraduate degrees and research opportunities. Many of our graduates secure high-profile teaching and research roles in the UK and internationally.

Learn more about our programmes and research.

Department of Economic History

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified prospective students. At LSE, we want to recruit students with the best academic merit, potential and motivation, irrespective of background.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your application form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including predicted and achieved grades)
• statement of academic purpose
• two academic references
• CV.

See further information on supporting documents.

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements.

Applications for this programme are considered on a rolling basis. This means that applications will close once the programme is full.

There is no fixed deadline. However, if you’d like to be considered for any funding opportunities, you must submit your application (and all supporting documents) by the funding deadline. See the fees and funding section below for more details.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

For this programme, the tuition fee is different for home and overseas students depending on their fee status.

All taught courses are required to include formative coursework which is unassessed. It's designed to help prepare you for summative assessment which counts towards the course mark and to the degree award. LSE uses a range of formative assessment, such as essays, problem sets, case studies, reports, quizzes, mock exams and many others. Summative assessment may be conducted during the course or by final examination at the end of the course. An indication of the formative coursework and summative assessment for each course can be found in the relevant course guide.

Economic history graduates can be found in management and administration in the public and private sectors; banking; journalism; economic consultancy; and library and museum services, to mention just a few.

Further information on graduate destinations for economic history graduates

From CV workshops through to careers fairs, LSE offers lots of information and support to help you make that all-important step from education into work.

Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year and there are numerous workshops covering topics such as job hunting, managing interviews, writing a cover letter and using LinkedIn.

See LSE Careers for further details.