LESSWRONG
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Agree, Retort, or Ignore? A Post From the Future
nicks00

gwern, do you have reference(s) for Chinese "financial instruments and arrangements not exceeded until the 1500s in Europe"? Thanks in advance.

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0gwern
Not up to your scholarly level, I don't think. I'm largely going on the reading/research I did using De Roover and others to write http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici_Bank , where I was struck by the wretched subterfuges that merchants had to resort to and the general lack of sophistication, which struck me as quite different from Chinese systems with genuine fiat currency, undisguised interest, and general sophistication (there may've been Chinese insurance in there too, but I've forgotten any details of that).
Agree, Retort, or Ignore? A Post From the Future
nicks50

The classic work on how property rights leads to wealth is still Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, written at the start of the industrial revolution and in the middle of an agricultural revolution. England went from over 80% agricultural workers in 1870 to only 30% in 1800, freeing up labor for the industrial revolution; this occurred largely through capital investments in land improvements, for example draining, marl, and lime (http://www.bahs.org.uk/26n1a1.pdf). Smith captures well the legal changes going on, and that he saw as encouraging capital i... (read more)

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0gwern
Those are interesting links & comments, thanks!