Likely due to its status as an occupation currency, the Shanghai yen used in Japan's wartime occupation zone in China traded below the official value of the yen during the late 1930s (S Takagi, March 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 14 hours ago
▲ 19 r/EconomicHistory
As Japan's urban population rapidly grew from the 1950s onward, the state promoted large-scale, multistory housing complexes inspired by Britain and the USSR. By the end of the 20th century, these danchi complexes fell out of fashion and into disrepair (ArchDaily, February 2020)
archdaily.comu/season-of-light — 1 day ago
Probate data from two English counties over the period 1600–1750 show that farming households did not typically have a lot of grain in storage (L Brunt and E Cannon, August 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 3 days ago
New estimates on employment and productivity within the cotton textile industry of British India confirms that some segments, such as hand spinning of yarn, did radically decline, while weaving remained much more resilient (A Nagar, August 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 6 days ago
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Nicholas Mulder: William Mulligan offers a new appraisal of the lead up to WWI, noting that, as European states began to be financed by their own citizens, they became more emboldened about conflict with each other (August 2026)
weltinnenpolitik.substack.comu/season-of-light — 7 days ago
▲ 16 r/EconomicHistory
In Joseon Korea, the civil service examination was biased towards already elite clans and was less meritocratic than China (D Choi and C Kim, April 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 8 days ago
With the exception of a few postwar decades, economies in Latin America and the Caribbean have had a strong presence in world agricultural markets (V Pinilla, G Aparicio, M Ayuda, I Belloc, P Delgado and R Serrano, July 2026)
ehes.orgu/season-of-light — 9 days ago
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During 1500-1871, Germany experienced dozens of periodic food crises, with the latter half of the 17th century being particularly harsh (H Albers and U Pfister, April 2025)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 10 days ago
Lukas Rosenberger on how England set itself on a more pro-growth technological trajectory during the 18th century relative to France (May 2026)
youtu.beu/season-of-light — 11 days ago
The Paris Club Dataset (1956–2026): Sovereign Debt Restructuring Agreements
dataverse.harvard.eduu/season-of-light — 11 days ago
Review paper: "Historical State Formation within and beyond Europe" (L Blaydes and A Gryzmala-Busse, March 2025)
blaydes.people.stanford.eduu/season-of-light — 13 days ago
Tracking the presence of different social ideals across centuries within the European canon, there has been rising openness to innovation and discovery since the High Middle Ages (R Stefanski, July 2026)
st-andrews.ac.uku/season-of-light — 14 days ago
Kuwait and Singapore were both positioned to become financial hubs later in the 20th century as both states moved on from being British commercial ports, but only Singapore effectively promoted competition and banking modernization (R Advani, April 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 15 days ago
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Best economic history reads - Summer 2026
With the end of August on the horizon, many summer readers might be anxious to sneak in a few more books.
We invite those who have read everything from economic, financial, or business history classics down to the year's new releases to contribute and share the best of what you've read.
See also: Winter 2025, Summer 2025
u/season-of-light — 16 days ago
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In the antebellum USA, the factory systems and wage structures of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia could differ quite markedly, with the Philadelphia region offering distinctly lower quality of life and wages (B Schneider, April 2025)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 21 days ago
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During South Korea's period of rapid economic growth, there was a large increase in industrial concentration. The largest firms only increased their productive edge over the rest as subsidies were withdrawn (VoxDev, June 2026)
voxdev.orgu/season-of-light — 21 days ago
Before WW2, regional convergence in productivity in Japan was strongly determined by the growth of productivity in the manufacturing sector. After WW2, regional convergence became more driven by shifting workers out of agricultural occupations (K Fukao and S Paul, July 2026)
doi.orgu/season-of-light — 23 days ago
Historical marital transactions and bride price practices around the world
u/season-of-light — 24 days ago
▲ 11 r/EconomicHistory
"The Business of War in the Early Modern Baltic Sea Region, 1530–1765" edited by Jaakko Björklund, Sebastian Schiavone, Steve Murdoch and Anu Lahtinen
hup.fiu/season-of-light — 26 days ago