History of financial globalization

This chapter reviews the many contributions to the encyclopedia's historical section. Those chapters track the ebb and flow of financial globalization since Roman times around the world. They document the process of financial development and innovation, the growth of financial institutions and markets, and their global linkages, as well as the history of financial crises, and the elements of different types of financial crises that appear similar or different over the ages. Throughout the history of financial globalization and financial development, government initiatives have played an active role, including in chartering banks, establishing joint-stock companies to manage international trade and finance, and creating or encouraging new financial instruments (bills of exchange, sovereign debts, and shares in companies) that served governments' fiscal interests or the expansion of empire via trade.