EH437 One Unit
History of Global Finance
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Olivier Accominotti
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Financial History. This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: All Economic History courses are controlled access and capped. Priority will be given to students for whom the course is within their programme regulations.
All course choices submitted before the deadline will be considered. It is advisable that students submit a statement in support of their course choices as these will be used to allocate places where a course is oversubscribed.
Deadline for application: First round offers will be sent on Monday 29 September 2025. Students who submit their course choices after the deadline and students wishing to take an Economic History course as an outside option will be waitlisted initially and informed by Wednesday 1 October 2025 whether they have been successful.
Once an offer has been sent, you have 48 hours to accept it before it times out. Once an offer has timed out, it will be re-allocated to someone on the waitlist. In all cases, it is strongly advised that you have an alternative course choice as a back-up in case you are unable to secure your first choice.
For queries contact: If you have any questions, please contact the MSc Programmes Officer (o.harrison1@lse.ac.uk) A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on LSE's course guide webpages. Guidance on how to apply to individual controlled access courses can also be found on LSE for You.
Course content
This course introduces students to the history of the global monetary and financial system. It examines the main changes in the architecture of global finance and in the governance of international monetary affairs from the very early times to the twenty-first century. The course explores the rise of international finance, the origins of financial globalization and de-globalization, and the causes and consequences of global financial instability for both advanced and emerging market economies. The course provides the necessary long-run, historical perspective to understand the most recent developments in the international monetary and financial system and the related policy debate. As part of this course, students will also design and conduct one research project in financial history drawing upon archival sources or historical data. The project will prepare students for their research dissertation.
Teaching
2 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.
20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
20 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.
Formative assessment
Students will be expected to produce 2 essays in the AT and WT.
Indicative reading
- Eichengreen, B. (2008). Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System. Princeton University Press.
- Eichengreen, B., Mehl, A., & Chitu, L. (2018). How Global Currencies Work. Past, Present and Future. Princeton University Press.
- Neal L. (2015). A concise history of international finance. Cambridge University Press.
- Reinhart C. & Rogoff K. (2009). This Time is Different. Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton University Press.
- Tooze, A. (2018). Crashed: how a decade of financial crises changed the world. Allen Lane.
Assessment
Exam (80%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Project (20%, 3500 words)
Key facts
Department: Economic History
Course Study Period: Autumn, Winter and Spring Term
Unit value: One unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 28
Average class size 2024/25: 28
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills
- Commercial awareness
- Specialist skills