Customer Reviews

The Big Problem of Small Change (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)

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Authors Thomas J. Sargent and François R. Velde offer a fascinating work of scholarship that studies the history of coinage in broad scope and depth. They dwell on a problem that is no longer a problem: the set value of coins. Internationally, consumers take it for granted that so many units of small change equal a larger unit of money. A U.S. shopper never wonders if 100 pennies could be worth more or less than a dollar. But during most of history, the value of small change was a vexing economic conundrum. The authors explore the evolution of the monetary system from Roman times, taking a circuitous and rambling path that touches on many subjects, from sieges to papal speculations. Regrettably, this book may be inaccessible to readers without a firm grounding in economic history and some comfort with higher math since the authors are scholars and assume that you are, too. Nonetheless, we recommend this sweeping book to anyone whose curiosity is piqued by this précis.

If you are interested in the history of monetary system. This is the book for you!
The content is decent. Also, it is not as mathmatricall, when the authors come to theory.

Great look at the history of economics in practice. There is a great chapter about the Castilian experiment on silver and copper currency. It provides great insight and really made me think more about our economics today. Only one complaint: I wish they could've also done a study of the Chinese fiat money currency.