79. France :The Enemy ; part 2

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The 2nd Hundred Years War arc continues.

Louis XIV's Geo Strategy and and an exploration of the French government's financial system.  A strange combination of topics?  But no, the one explains necessary features and failures of the other.

France is remarkably backward in financial matters compared to the Netherlands and Great Britain during the war of the Spanish Succession.  And yet France has interesting financial innovations including Bearer instruments (can you say Die Hard and Beverly Hills Cop?).  They also have two important financial centers in Paris and Lyon.  But France suffers deeply from moral hazard, the principal-agent distortion, rent seeking and asymmetric information.

Guy Rowlands is the primary source for this episode.

Raoul Sunset does conversations with Camie where we discuss Necker, but mainly focus on financial issues.