Dear Terry,

I am rather out of date in my reading – I wonder if the studies you mention
make much comment on the great monetary experiments of Eastern states, of
Wang Mang, Wang an Shih, Sher Shah and Akbar?  Eastern experiments aimed at
ending various forms of exploitative economic serfdom, and giving ordinary
citizens access to markets and the cash to spend at them?

Adam Smith does not seem to me to be much of a China enthusiast, but George
Berkeley surely was ---and it seems to me it was exactly these sort of
matters, to do with economic freedom for the ordinary citizen, that George
Berkeley fixes on in his very positive accounts of Chinese productivity. 
The liberalisation of the economy after 1830 in England perhaps owes some
debt to such Chinese thought?

I notice a paper by Kuroda this year which has begun to delve this neglected
matter

Anonymous currencies or named debts? Comparison of currencies, local credits
and units of account between China, Japan and England in the pre-industrial
era  Akinobu Kuroda,  Socio-Economic Review (2012) 1–24 

A second, thought, alongside most favourite books perhaps we should comment,
(or rather warn!), concerning some least favourite books dealing with
oriental economic history?

For instance, it seems to me very clear that in 7 AD Wang Mang anticipated
in a broad way matters of 20th century western monetary policy when he
confiscated Chinese gold holdings, in order to assist the launch of his fiat
currency.  Thus it seems to me especially regrettable that Homer Dubs chose
to explain this act, instead, as one of mere greed!  Just as bad though, was
Braudel's attempt to suggest to the reader that Sher Shah’s move to monetise
the Indian economy (c. 1538) was somehow motivated by the discovery of
Potosi (in c. 1545)………

Rob Tye, York UK