The Political Economy of Monetary and Financial Innovation by P. Bernholz and R. Vaubel.- Silver as a Financial Tool in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia by M. Van De Mieroop.- War and Peace, Imitation and Innovation, Backwardness and Development by D.M. Schaps -- The Emergence and Spread of Coins in Ancient India by D.R. Reddy.- The Emergence and Spread of Coins in China from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period by Y. Kakinuma.- The Changing Pattern of Achaemenid Persian Royal Coinage by C. Tuplin.- The Spread of Coins in the Hellenistic World by A. Meadows.-Monetary Innovation in Ancient Rome by B.E. WOYTEK.- The Provision of Stable Moneys by Florence and Venice, and North Italian Financial Innovations in the Renaissance Period by P. Spufford -- Monetary and Financial Innovations in Flanders, Antwerp, London and Hamburg by M. A. Denzel.- The Bank of Amsterdam Through the Lens of Monetary Competition by S. QUINN, W.  Roberds.- Monetary and Financial Innovation in the Spanish Empire by C. Alvarez-Nogal.- The Emergence and Innovations of the Eurodollar Money and Bond Market by T. Saadma, R. Vaubel.

This book discusses theories of monetary and financial innovation and applies them to key monetary and financial innovations in history - starting with the use of silver bars in Mesopotamia and ending with the emergence of the Eurodollar market in London. The key monetary innovations are coinage (Asia minor, China, India), the payment of interest on loans, the bill of exchange and deposit banking (Venice, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London). The main financial innovation is the emergence of bond markets (also starting in Venice). Episodes of innovation are contrasted with relatively stagnant environments (the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire). The comparisons suggest that small, open and competing jurisdictions have been more innovative than large empires - as has been suggested by David Hume in 1742.