‘The most difficult financial matter that has ever presented itself’: paper money and the financing of warfare under Louis XIV
| العنوان: | ‘The most difficult financial matter that has ever presented itself’: paper money and the financing of warfare under Louis XIV |
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| المؤلفون: | Joel Felix |
| المصدر: | Financial History Review. 25:43-70 |
| بيانات النشر: | Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2018. |
| سنة النشر: | 2018 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Inflation, Finance, History, Absolute monarchy, 060106 history of social sciences, business.industry, Fiat money, media_common.quotation_subject, 05 social sciences, Monetary policy, 06 humanities and the arts, Fiscal policy, Spanish Civil War, Currency, Political science, 0502 economics and business, 0601 history and archaeology, 050207 economics, business, Legal tender, media_common |
| الوصف: | Based on an extensive survey of French primary sources and a discussion of the recent literature on fiscal policy in France and Europe during Louis XIV's wars, this article revisits the rationale behind the first experiment with paper money undertaken by finance minister Michel Chamillart, comparing it to other belligerents’ strategies, in particular England's, to adjust their monetary regime to the challenges of funding long wars of attrition. The article shows how concerns about economic activity, coinage and the need to finance the war deficit led to a series of debasements of the French currency, the establishment of a bank in the form of aCaisse des empruntsand the introduction of mint bills, which became legal tender and caused the first experience of fiat money inflation in history. Whereas Chamillart's personal shortcomings have been recently suggested as the cause of Louis XIV's humbling in the War of the Spanish Succession, I argue on the contrary that the introduction of paper money in 1704 was key to the capacity of France to sustain its military effort, but that a succession of military defeats against a more powerful coalition led to inflation. I also argue that the introduction of paper money saved theCaisse des empruntsand its bonds which helped sustain the war effort up until the peace. By situating the use of paper money within the broader question of the exercise of power in the absolute monarchy, this article examines the formation of fiscal policy, paying attention to the ways in which government sought advice from experts. It concludes by calling for further studies on policy- and decision-making under Louis XIV. |
| وصف الملف: | application/pdf |
| تدمد: | 1474-0052 0968-5650 |
| الوصول الحر: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::ce6c16d5141083f750e8f52c1b4ea1f5Test https://doi.org/10.1017/s0968565017000294Test |
| حقوق: | OPEN |
| رقم الانضمام: | edsair.doi.dedup.....ce6c16d5141083f750e8f52c1b4ea1f5 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 14740052 09685650 |
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