A social vs. an institutional history of the “Financial Revolution” and the importance of experimentation. Part 1

Abstract 0

Since P.G.M. Dickson’s seminal study about post-1688 England, “Financial Revolution” (hereafter FR) has become a key notion for economic and financial historians.[1] The notion has given rise to an important historiographical debate which brought to light significant disagreements: What was the decisive feature of the FR: the long-term national debt, the tax system, the financial markets, the parliament’s “credible commitment” to the repay the national debt?[2] Did the FR start only after th...