In the ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE GROWTH ECONOMIES OF ASIA series, a collection of essays tracing the economic development of the Pacific Rim over four centuries. Broad historical syntheses are combined with essays on a wide range of specific topics such as environmental history, trade with Hong Kong and British overseas banking.

The increasing importance of the Pacific and Pacific Rim within the global economy places us on the brink of a Pacific Century. While many hold that the concept of a Pacific region has only emerged in the 20th century, this work demonstrates that such an economic region has existed for almost five hundred years. Starting with the 16th-century trade of Latin American silver for Chinese silk, researchers trace the economic, environmental and social history of the Pacific region. Chapters examine the trade of diverse commodities within the Pacific and analyze the ecological and social impacts of...

Starting with the 16th century trade of Latin American silver and Chinese silk, leading researchers trace the economic, environmental and social history of the Pacific region. Chapters examine the trade of diverse commodities within the Pacific and analyse the ecological and social impacts of this increasing economic activity. The strong Chinese marketplace emerges as crucial to early Pacific development, and is compared with Japan's central role in the region's modern economy.

This collection of revisionist articles, not based on mainstream monetary theory, but on the application of the Doherty-Flynn model to economic history, discusses the nature of the world silver market in the 16th and 17th centuries.