Updated on: 16 April 2012:

(1) The Usury Doctrine and Urban Public Finances in Late-Medieval Flanders (1220-1550): Rentes (Annuities), Excise Taxes, and Income Transfers from the Poor to the Rich .

Paper presented to the following organizations:

• (a) The 39th Settimana di Studi, of the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “Francesco Datini”, at Prato, Italy: Fiscal Systems in the European Economy, from the 13th to the 18th Centuries: on Thursday, 26 April 2007: morning session on: The effects of taxation, positive and negative, on the European economy.

• (b) The Washington Area Economic History Seminar: at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on Friday, 11 May 2007.

• (c) SWEAT: Summer Workshop in Economics and Applied Theory, Department of Economics, University of Toronto, on Wednesday, 15 August 2007.

• (d) University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario), Conference on: Medieval Social and Political Institutions: Their Economic Effects: held on Saturday, 3 November 2007.

• See the Power Point Presentation

• See the PDF file : of full text, with tables

(2) The South Sea Bubble of 1720 and its relationship to the current financial crisis: an old and still current story of greed, fraud, and stupidity:

For the series Breakfast with the Bulletin, on Market Meltdown, Economic Uncertainty, in the Bennett Lecture Hall, Flavelle House, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, 78 Queen’s Park Crescent, Toronto: on Tuesday, 25 November 2008.

• See the Power Point Presentation

• This powerpoint presentation, along with the companion talk by Professor Eric Kirzner, Rotman School of Management, are also available online at The U of T Bulletin's Webcast.

(3) Coinage Debasements in Burgundian Flanders, 1384 - 1482: Monetary or Fiscal Policies?

• (a) Presented to the 44th International Congress on Medieval Studies, at the Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI), on Saturday, 9 May 2009. For Session 465: The Achievement and Influence of Bryce Lyon (1920 - 2007), III: Flanders and Economic History.

• (b) Presented to the XVth World Economic History Congress, at the University of Utrecht: Session M.10: ‘Monetary Problems and Monetary Policies: the World Economy Before 1800’. Friday, 7 August 2009.

• See the Power Point Presentation

• See the PDF Version : full text

(4) From Gutsherrschaft to Grundherrschaft: Monetary and Fiscal Factors in the Decline of English Manorial Demesne Agriculture and Serfdom, ca. 1370 - ca. 1420

• Presented to the Conference: England in the Age of the Black Death: Conference in Honour of Professor John Hatcher: held at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, on Monday, 10 August 2009.

• See the Power Point Presentation

• See the PDF version: of the full text (with tables)

(5) From Wine to Beer: Changing Patterns of Alcoholic Consumption and Living Standards in Later Medieval Flanders, 1300 - 1550

Presented to:

(a) The 85th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, Session 25: ‘Food, Drink, Environment, and Crisis in Northern Europe’, at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, on 19 March 2010.

(b) The Department of History, Universiteit Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium): on 6 May 2010 (revised version).

(c) SWEAT: Summer Workshop in Economics and Applied Theory: Department of Economics, University of Toronto (Max Gluskin House): on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 (further revised version)

• See the Power Point Presentation (revised) with graphs and maps .

• See the PDF version : of full text (with tables) : not yet revised.

(6) Usury, Calvinism, and Credit in Protestant England: from the Sixteenth Century to the Industrial Revolution

• Presented to: the 43rd Study Week of the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica "F. Datini": Religione e istituzione religiose nell'economia europea, 1000 - 1800/ Religion and Religious Institutions in the European Economy, 1000 - 1800 , 8 - 12 May 2011.

• See the Power Point Presentation (revised)

• See the Working Paper version: Department of Economics web site (in PDF format).

(7) Usury and Medieval-Renaissance Public Debts: Why the Renaissance Italian Communes Did Not Adopt the Franco-Flemish ‘Financial Revolution', 1220 - 1600

• Presented to the 58th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, in Washington, DC (Grand Hyatt Hotel), 22 - 24 March 2012, for session: 30419: The Economy of Renaissance Italy IV: Economic Thought

• Power Point presentation:

• most recent revised version: in power point

• most recent revised version: in PDF format

• abstract