The Primary Cause of European Inflation in 1500-1700: Precious Metals or Population? The English Evidence

Anthony Edo and Jacques Melitz

Working Papers from CEPII research center

Abstract: We perform the first econometric test to date of the influences of inflows of precious metals and population growth on the “Great Inflation” in Europe following the discovery of the New World. The English evidence strongly supports the near-equivalent importance of both influences. For 1500-1700, silver is the only relevant precious metal in the estimates. The study controls for urbanization, government spending, mortality crises and climatic changes. The series for inflows of the precious metals into Europe from America and European mining are newly constructed based on the secondary sources.

Keywords: The “Great Inflation”; Demography; Precious Metals; European Economic History 1500-1700 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E31 F00 J10 N13 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-mac and nep-mon
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: The Primary Cause of European Inflation in 1500-1700: Precious Metals or Population? The English Evidence (2019)
Working Paper: The Primary Cause of European Inflation in 1500-1700: Precious Metals or Population? The English Evidence (2019)
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