Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Formation of Money and the Banking System in Italy and the United States, 1860-1920

博士论文研究：1860-1920 年意大利和美国货币的形成和银行体系

• 批准号: 0703423
• 负责人: Randall Collins
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-03-15 至 2008-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0703423&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Formation; Money

Randall CollinsSimone PolilloUniversity of PennsylvaniaHistorically, modern states have tried to monopolize the issue and control of money: under what conditions and to what extent did they succeed? To what extent has increasing intervention of the state in the market and the economy translated into more stability, or is the presence of the state, on the contrary, a pre-condition for speculative uses of finance? From a sociology-of-money perspective, this project examines the formation of a banking and financial system in Italy and the United States between the 1860s and the post-First-World-War period. These two cases are different on many accounts (such as size, natural resource endowment, level of industrialization). Unexpectedly, however, they share striking similarities in terms of banking and financial development, and political decentralization. They were both late political developers, facing enormous difficulties in centralizing political power against the pull of peripheral forces; they both created a central bank late, and brought the currency under the monopoly of the state in the face of great political opposition. Moreover, both countries experienced drawn-out political debates on how money and the economy in general should be organized, the United States tending towards populism, Italy embracing instead a nationalist frame.By using this comparison strategically, this project uses mixed methods: first, it analyzes quantitatively the balance-sheet activities of the various banking actors involved in the construction of a national economy in both cases. By investigating how different kinds of monies and financial relationships were formed and put to use, the project strives to show whether the proliferation of state-originating monies (such as government stock and Treasury bills) "crowded out" private investment, as in the neo-classical economy story, or in fact allowed for the constitution of destabilizing and speculative financial interests. If that is the case, how did such interests come to benefit materially and symbolically by the guarantee offered by a collaboration with the state? Second, by examining qualitatively the negotiations between private bankers, public bankers and state officials through their private correspondence, public pronouncements and legal investigations over the 1860-1920 period, this project examines whether, and how money and the economy were culturally constructed in different ways in Italy and the United States, and whether that such constructions affected the ways in which money was institutionalized. Broader Impact. This project focuses on the existence and effects of "national culture" on financial policy, thus entering an important debate in social science. By showing in what ways money contributes to the institutionalization of particular ways of thinking and acting in the economy, this research will critically engage the idea that national "traditions" matter by showing how in fact they are created. This is especially important in the face of globalization pressures on the state to conform to world-cultural models, irrespective of society-specific assets and advantages.Second, as states are attempting to devise new ways of organizing their economies, and as these are increasingly being managed by technocrats, attention to the sociological underpinnings of institutions seems to be more crucial than ever. Changing monetary instruments (such as the substitution of the Euro for European currencies) might not be an effective policy s without a political reconfiguration of power, and the creation of political institutions which can "domesticate" emerging financial elites, that is, bind new financial actors to "appropriate" uses of money. By focusing on a historical period which is analytically similar to the current international situation of free trade and mobile international capital, this project recasts the debate on markets and states as one of stability and speculation, and can thus contribute to the discovery of institutional settings that promote the former and minimize the latter.

兰德尔·柯林斯（Randall Collins）西蒙·波利洛（Simone Polillo）宾夕法尼亚大学历史上，现代国家曾试图垄断货币的发行和控制：它们在什么条件下以及在多大程度上成功了？国家对市场和经济的越来越多的干预在多大程度上转化为更加稳定，或者相反，国家的存在是金融投机用途的先决条件？该项目从货币社会学的角度审视 1860 年代至第一次世界大战后时期意大利和美国银行和金融体系的形成。这两种情况在很多方面都有所不同（例如规模、自然资源禀赋、工业化水平）。然而，出乎意料的是，它们在银行和金融发展以及政治分权方面有着惊人的相似之处。他们都是后来的政治发展者，在集中政治权力对抗外围势力的拉动方面面临着巨大的困难。他们都较晚创建了中央银行，并在面临巨大的政治反对的情况下将货币置于国家垄断之下。此外，两国都经历了关于如何组织货币和经济的旷日持久的政治辩论，美国倾向于民粹主义，意大利则拥抱民族主义框架。通过战略性地使用这种比较，本项目使用了混合方法：首先，定量分析了这两种情况下参与国民经济建设的各个银行参与者的资产负债表活动。通过调查不同种类的货币和金融关系是如何形成和使用的，该项目力图表明，国家起源的货币（例如政府股票和国库券）的扩散是否像新古典经济故事中那样“挤出”了私人投资，或者实际上允许了破坏稳定和投机性金融利益的构成。如果是这样的话，这些利益是如何通过与国家合作提供的保证而获得物质和象征性的利益的呢？其次，通过对 1860-1920 年期间私人银行家、公共银行家和国家官员之间的谈判进行定性考察，通过私人信件、公开声明和法律调查，本项目考察了意大利和美国货币和经济是否以及如何以不同的方式构建文化，以及这种构建是否影响了货币制度化的方式。更广泛的影响。该项目关注“民族文化”的存在及其对金融政策的影响，从而引发了社会科学领域的一场重要争论。通过展示金钱如何促进经济中特定思维和行为方式的制度化，这项研究将通过展示国家“传统”实际上是如何创造的来批判性地探讨国家“传统”的重要性。面对全球化的压力，国家必须遵守世界文化模式，而不考虑社会特定的资产和优势，这一点尤其重要。其次，随着国家试图设计新的经济组织方式，并且这些方式越来越多地由技术官僚管理，对制度的社会学基础的关注似乎比以往任何时候都更加重要。如果没有政治上的权力重组，也没有建立能够“驯化”新兴金融精英的政治机构，即约束新的金融参与者“适当”使用货币，改变货币工具（例如用欧元替代欧洲货币）可能不是有效的政策。通过关注一个在分析上与当前自由贸易和国际资本流动的国际形势相似的历史时期，该项目将关于市场和国家的争论重新定义为稳定和投机的争论，从而有助于发现促进前者并最小化后者的制度设置。