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Spring 2015

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 30, Number 1

Categories: Spring 2015 | Monetary policy

Lady Pecunia at the Punching Office: Two Poems on Early Modern Monetary Reform

Sarah Skwire , Liberty Fund, Inc.

Steve Horwitz, St. Lawrence University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise30(1),2015,107–120LadyPecuniaatthePunchingOffice:TwoPoemsonEarlyModernMonetaryReformSarahSkwireLibertyFund,Inc.StevenHorwitzSt.LawrenceUniversity______________________________________________________AbstractTwoearlymodernpoemshelptosupporttheargumentthat“habitsofthelip”aboutcommercialandeconomicmatterswerechangingrapidlyintheearlymodernperiod.Throughtheirpoeticconsiderationofcontemporarydebatesaboutrecoinageanddebasement,thepoemsdemonstratearemarkabledegreeofeconomicunderstanding—amongbothauthorandaudience—ofissuessuchascommoditymoney,inflation,debasement,andGresham’sLawinbothhighcultureandpopularculture.ThesophisticationofthatunderstandingisanimportantreminderthattheeconomicwayofthinkingdidnotbeginwithAdamSmith,norwasitthesolepurviewoftheeliterulingclass.______________________________________________________JELcodes:N13,B11,E42Keywords:coinage,debasement,earlymodernliteratureI.IntroductionDeirdreMcCloskey’sBourgeoisVirtuesandBourgeoisDignityperformavarietyofusefulservicesforfreemarketeconomists.Thefirstoftheseservicesisthebooks’enormouspotentialsuccessindissuading“peoplewhothinkthatcapitalismisprobablyrotten,andwhobelievethataclaimtobourgeois‘virtues,’ofallthings,islaughable”(McCloskey2006,p.5).Thesecondisalessonforfreemarketeconomiststhemselves,however:thelessonthatsophisticatedeconomicthinkingdidnotbeginwithAdamSmith,orwithHutchesonandCarmichael,orindeed,anywhereintheeighteenthcenturyatall.1Instead,McCloskeyremindsusthattheinnovationsofrhetoricthataccompanysophisticatedeconomicthinking“happened1SeealsoJones(2011,pp.83–86),Noel(2007,pp.71–94),andStringham(2002,pp.1–19)fordiscussionofpre-eighteenthcenturyeconomicthinkinginancientRome,thebiblicalera,andtheearlyEnglishstockmarket.107

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Lady Pecunia at the Punching Office: Two Poems on Early Modern Monetary Reform
Authors/Creators:	Sarah Skwire , Liberty Fund, Inc. Steve Horwitz, St. Lawrence University
Year:	2015
Volume:	30
Number:	1
Pages:	107 - 120
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	coinage, debasement, early modern literature

Citation:
Skwire, Sarah; Horwitz, Steve / 2015. "Lady Pecunia at the Punching Office: Two Poems on Early Modern Monetary Reform." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 30(1): 107-120.