Sovereign of the Market: The Money Question in Early America (American Beginnings, 1500-1900)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.45 (650 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 022648033X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 336 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-01-06 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Sklansky has written a book that effectively draws upon methodological turns—social, cultural, and financial—in a way that challenges us to rethink the periodization and politics of the money-question in America. It is more than a timely and persuasive intervention in the current debates over the history of capitalism and financialization; it is a masterful and memorable work of history in itself.”. “Sovereign of the Market is an exemplary work of intellectual histor
What should serve as money, who should control its creation and circulation, and according to what rules? For more than two hundred years, the “money question” shaped American social thought, becoming a central subject of political debate and class conflict. Sovereign of the Market reveals how and why this happened. First, the fight over the innovation of paper money in colonial New England. Jeffrey Sklansky’s wide-ranging study comprises three chronological parts devoted to major episodes in the career of the money question. The three parts also encompass intellectual biographies of opposing reformers for each period, shedding new light on the connections between economic thought and other aspects of early American culture. Second, the battle over the development of commercial banking in the new United States. The result is a fascinating, insightful, and deeply considered contribution to the history of capitalism.. Each section explores a broader problem of power that framed each conflict in successive phases of capitalist development: circulation, representation, and association. And third, the struggle over the national banking syst