This paper tests whether the so-called ‘reach of the market’ helps to explain ‘why Europe’ and ‘why north …-western Europe’. By looking at grain markets from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century, this study concludes that the … neither a concomitant nor an effect of the Industrial Revolution, but indeed a plausible determinant for the rise of Europe …

bankingindustry. This goal is served by taking a broad view of thepayments business and analyzing information provided bylarge bank …