Price volatility and markets in late medieval and early modern Europe

Until relatively recently, economic history was simple. Students were commonly taught that nothing much happened until the modern period of continuous technological change that was ushered in by the British Industrial Revolution. The West was seen as the first part of the world to economically develop and the East as, in general, backward. Economic historians focused their efforts on explaining the Industrial Revolution in an attempt to draw lessons that might enable the rest of the world to follow suit. However, the scholarship of the last two decades has in many ways completely overturned this story. It has now become clear that for much of history, from the times of ancient Babylonia and continuing through to Byzantium, economic life centred on the Near and Far East. ¹ It is only in relatively recent times that the West has become economically dominant. In late medieval times, European wealth depended on trading the silks, chinaware and spices of the East. This all changed around 1800 when the British Industrial Revolution was under way and Britannia came to rule the world seas. As we stand today, the world economy is on the cusp of reorienting itself back to the East, bringing history full circle.