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Inflation in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire and Europe

Year 2022, Volume: 30 Issue: 54, 401 - 420, 25.10.2022
https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21

Abstract

This study investigates the rates and causes of price inflation in early modern Europe and the Ottomans. There are two leading causes of price inflation in this period. The first is the American silver, and the second is the debasements that states resorted to for revenue. Our study shows that debasements are the more important cause. Debasements have induced price increases ranging between two to five hundred-fold for different states. As for American silver, it has induced, at most, a four-fold increase in prices. Hence inflation was mainly caused by debasements and the underlying political factors.

References

  • Allen, R.C. (2001), “The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War”, Explorations in Economic History, 38(4), 411-447.
  • Alvarez‐Nogal, Carlos & L.P. de la Escosura (2003), “The Rise and Fall of Spain (1270-1850)”, The Economic History Review, 66(1), 1-37.
  • Balassa, B. (1964), “The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: a Reappraisal”, The Journal of Political Economy, 72, 584-596.
  • Barkan, Ö.L. (1970), “XVI. Asrın İkinci Yarısında Türkiye’de Fiyat Hareketleri”, Belleten, 34, 557-607.
  • Barkan, Ö.L. (1975), “The Price Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: A Turning Point in the Economic History of the Near East”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 6, 3-28.
  • Barrett, W. (1990) “World Bullion Flows, 1450-1800”, in: The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750, Cambridge University Press.
  • Bodin, J. (1568), La Response de Maistre Jean Bodin, advocat en la Cour, au Paradoxe de Monsieur de Malestroit touchant l’encherissement de totes hoses et le moyen d’y remedier, Paris.
  • Bonfatti, R. et al. (2020), “Monetary Capacity”, Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No 15299, London.
  • Bonney, R. (1995), Economic Systems and State Finance, Clarendon Press Oxford.
  • Braudel, F. & F. Spooner (1967), “Prices in Europe from 1450 to 1750”, The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, 4, 374-486.
  • Cezar, Y. (1986), Osmanlı Maliyesinde Bunalım ve Değişim Dönemi: 18. Yüzyıldan Tanzimat’a Mali Tarih, İstanbul: Alan Yayıncılık.
  • Clark, G. (2004), “The Price History of Englısh Agriculture, 1209-1914”, in: Research in Economic History, Vol. 22 (41-123), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley.
  • Cvrcek, T. (2013), “Wages, Prices, and Living Standards in the Habsburg Empire, 1827-1910”, Journal of Economic History, 73(1), 1-37.
  • Çürük, M. et al. (2020), “The Determinants of the Differences in Price Levels Across Europe, 1300-1914”, Research Project, Tubitak 1001, Project Number 117K203.
  • Danila, R. (2006), “Credibility and Gradualism in a Monetary Reform: Token Copper Coins in the 17th-Early 18th Century Russia”, Ronald Coase Institute Meeting Papers.
  • Estevadeordal, A. et al. (2003), “The Rise and Fall of World Trade, 1870-1939”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(2), 359-407.
  • Faroqhi, S. (1994), “Crisis and Change, 1590-1699”, in: H. İnalcık & D. Quataert (eds.), An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1914 (490-92), Cambridge University Press.
  • Fisher, D. (1989), “The Price Revolution: a Monetary Interpretation”, The Journal of Economic History, 49(4), 883-902.
  • Flynn, D.O. (1978), “A New Perspective on the Spanish Price Revolution: The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments”, Explorations in Economic History, 15(4), 388-406.
  • Gerber, H. (1982), “The Monetary System of the Ottoman Empire”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 25(3), 308-324.
  • Grice-Hutchinson, M. (1952), The School of Salamanca: Readings in Spanish Monetary Theory, 1544-1605, Oxford.
  • Hamilton, E.J. (1929), “American Treasure and the Rise of Capitalism (1500-1700)”, Economica, 27, 338-357.
  • Hamilton, E.J. (1934), American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1501-1650, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • İnalcık, H. (1980), “Military and Fiscal Transformation in the Ottoman Empire, 1600-1700”, Archivum Ottomanicum, 6, 289-311.
  • Jacob, F. & H.G. Johnson (1976), “The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments: Essential Concepts and Historical Origins”, in: F. Jacob & H.G. Johnson (eds.) The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments (21-45), Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Kahan, A. & R. Hellie (1985), The Plow, the Hammer, and the Knout: An Economic History of Eighteenth-Century Russia, University of Chicago Press.
  • Karaman, K.K. & Ş. Pamuk (2010), “Ottoman State Finances in European Perspective, 1500-1914”, Journal of Economic History, 70(3), 593-629.
  • Karaman, K.K. & Ş. Pamuk (2016), “Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa Devletlerinde Tağşişler ve Nedenleri (1326-1844)”, METU Studies in Development, 43(1), 229-256.
  • Karaman, K.K. et al. (2020), “Money and Monetary Stability in Europe, 1300-1914”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 115, 279-300.
  • LeDonne, J.P. (1991), Absolutism and Ruling Class: The Formation of the Russian Political Order 1700-1825, Oxford University Press.
  • Losa, E.L. & S.P. Zarauz (2021), “Spanish Subsistence Wages and the Little Divergence in Europe, 1500-1800”, European Review of Economic History, 25(1), 59-84.
  • Magalhaes-Godinho, V. (1969), L’Economie de I’Empire Portugais aux X’Ve et XVI Siecles, Paris: Sevpen.
  • Malestroit, J.C. (1566), Les Paradoxes du Seigneur de Malestroit, conseillor du Roi et Maistre ordinaire de ses comptes, sur le faict des Monnoyes presented a Sa Majeste’ au mois de Mars MDLXVI, Paris.
  • Mironov, B.N. (2010), “Wages and Prices in Imperial Russia, 1703-1913”, Russian Review, 69(1), 47-72.
  • Muhlpeck, V. et al. (1979), “Index der Verbraucherpreise 1800-1914”, in: Z.O. Statistisches (ed.), Oesterreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt, Geschichte und Ergebnisse der Zentralen Amtlichen Statistik in Oesterreich 1829-1979 (649-688).
  • Ölçer, C. (1975), The Ornamental Copper Coinage of the Ottoman Empire, İstanbul: Yenilik Basımevi.
  • Özmucur, S. & Ş. Pamuk (2002), “Real Wages and Standards of Living in the Ottoman Empire, 1489-1914”, Journal of Economic History, 62(2), 293-321.
  • Palma, N. & J. Reis (2019), “From Convergence to Divergence: Portuguese Economic Growth, 1527-1850”, Journal of Economic History, 79(2), 477-506.
  • Palma, N. (2019), “The Existence and Persistence of Monetary Non-neutrality: Evidence from a Large-scale Historical Natural Experiment”, Economics Discussion Paper Series, EDP-1904.
  • Pamuk, Ş. (2000), A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge University Press.
  • Pamuk, Ş. (2001), “The Price Revolution in the Ottoman Empire Reconsidered”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 33(1), 69-89.
  • Pfister, U. (2017), “The Timing and Pattern of Real Wage Divergence in Pre‐Industrial Europe: Evidence From Germany, c. 1500-1850”, The Economic History Review, 70(3), 701-729.
  • Ridolfi, L. (2017), “The French Economy in The Longue Durée: A Study On Real Wages, Working Days and Economic Performance From Louis IX To The Revolution (1250-1789)”, European Review of Economic History, 21(4), 437-438.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1958), “Kuruluştan XVII. Asrın Sonlarına Kadar Osmanlı Para Tarihi Üzerinde Bir Deneme”, Doktora Tezi, İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1965), “Bir Asırlık Osmanlı Para Tarihi, 1640-1740”, Doçentlik Tezi, İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1968), “Fatih’in Son Yıllarında Bakır Para Basılması ve Dağıtılması ile İlgili Belgeler”, Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi, 6, 72-75.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1982), “İkinci Süleyman ve İkinci Ahmed Zamanlarında Bakır Para Üzerinde Bir Enflasyon Denemesi, H. 1099-1103/M. 1687-1691”, Bülten No 10. İstanbul: Türk Nümismatik Derneği Yayını.
  • Samuelson, P.A. (1964), “Theoretical Notes on Trade Problems”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 46(2), 145-154.
  • Schaendlinger, A.C. (1973), Osmanische Numismatik: von den Anfängen des Osmanischen Reiches bis zu seiner Auflösung 1922 (Vol. 3), Klinkhardt & Biermann.
  • Spooner, F.C. (1972), The International Economy and Monetary Movements in France, 1493-1725, Harvard University Press.
  • Sultan, J. (1977), Coins of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic: a Detailed Catalogue of the Jem Sultan Collection (Vol. 1), B & R Publishers.
  • Van Zanden, J.L. & B. van Leeuwen (2012), “Persistent But Not Consistent: The Growth of National Income in Holland 1347-1807”, Explorations in Economic History, 49(2), 119-130.

Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon

Year 2022, Volume: 30 Issue: 54, 401 - 420, 25.10.2022
https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Osmanlı Devleti ve diğer Avrupa devletleri için erken modern dönemde gerçekleşen fiyat enflasyonu oranlarını karşılaştırmakta ve enflasyonun sebeplerini incelemektedir. Bu dönemde gerçekleşen fiyat enflasyonunu açıklamada iki etken ön plana çıkar. İlk etken Amerika’da keşfedilen gümüş, ikinci etken ise devletlerin gelir elde etmek için başvurdukları tağşişlerdir. Çalışmamız bu iki etkenden daha önemli olanının tağşişler olduğunu gösterir. Eldeki veriler tağşişlerin farklı ülkeler için 2 ile 500 kat arasında değişen oranlarda fiyat artışlarına yol açtığını göstermektedir. Amerika’dan gelen gümüş ise fiyatları 4 kattan daha az artırmıştır. Dolayısıyla enflasyonun temel sebebi tağşişler ve tağşişlere yol açan siyasi sebeplerdir.

References

  • Allen, R.C. (2001), “The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War”, Explorations in Economic History, 38(4), 411-447.
  • Alvarez‐Nogal, Carlos & L.P. de la Escosura (2003), “The Rise and Fall of Spain (1270-1850)”, The Economic History Review, 66(1), 1-37.
  • Balassa, B. (1964), “The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: a Reappraisal”, The Journal of Political Economy, 72, 584-596.
  • Barkan, Ö.L. (1970), “XVI. Asrın İkinci Yarısında Türkiye’de Fiyat Hareketleri”, Belleten, 34, 557-607.
  • Barkan, Ö.L. (1975), “The Price Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: A Turning Point in the Economic History of the Near East”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 6, 3-28.
  • Barrett, W. (1990) “World Bullion Flows, 1450-1800”, in: The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750, Cambridge University Press.
  • Bodin, J. (1568), La Response de Maistre Jean Bodin, advocat en la Cour, au Paradoxe de Monsieur de Malestroit touchant l’encherissement de totes hoses et le moyen d’y remedier, Paris.
  • Bonfatti, R. et al. (2020), “Monetary Capacity”, Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No 15299, London.
  • Bonney, R. (1995), Economic Systems and State Finance, Clarendon Press Oxford.
  • Braudel, F. & F. Spooner (1967), “Prices in Europe from 1450 to 1750”, The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, 4, 374-486.
  • Cezar, Y. (1986), Osmanlı Maliyesinde Bunalım ve Değişim Dönemi: 18. Yüzyıldan Tanzimat’a Mali Tarih, İstanbul: Alan Yayıncılık.
  • Clark, G. (2004), “The Price History of Englısh Agriculture, 1209-1914”, in: Research in Economic History, Vol. 22 (41-123), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley.
  • Cvrcek, T. (2013), “Wages, Prices, and Living Standards in the Habsburg Empire, 1827-1910”, Journal of Economic History, 73(1), 1-37.
  • Çürük, M. et al. (2020), “The Determinants of the Differences in Price Levels Across Europe, 1300-1914”, Research Project, Tubitak 1001, Project Number 117K203.
  • Danila, R. (2006), “Credibility and Gradualism in a Monetary Reform: Token Copper Coins in the 17th-Early 18th Century Russia”, Ronald Coase Institute Meeting Papers.
  • Estevadeordal, A. et al. (2003), “The Rise and Fall of World Trade, 1870-1939”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(2), 359-407.
  • Faroqhi, S. (1994), “Crisis and Change, 1590-1699”, in: H. İnalcık & D. Quataert (eds.), An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1914 (490-92), Cambridge University Press.
  • Fisher, D. (1989), “The Price Revolution: a Monetary Interpretation”, The Journal of Economic History, 49(4), 883-902.
  • Flynn, D.O. (1978), “A New Perspective on the Spanish Price Revolution: The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments”, Explorations in Economic History, 15(4), 388-406.
  • Gerber, H. (1982), “The Monetary System of the Ottoman Empire”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 25(3), 308-324.
  • Grice-Hutchinson, M. (1952), The School of Salamanca: Readings in Spanish Monetary Theory, 1544-1605, Oxford.
  • Hamilton, E.J. (1929), “American Treasure and the Rise of Capitalism (1500-1700)”, Economica, 27, 338-357.
  • Hamilton, E.J. (1934), American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1501-1650, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  • İnalcık, H. (1980), “Military and Fiscal Transformation in the Ottoman Empire, 1600-1700”, Archivum Ottomanicum, 6, 289-311.
  • Jacob, F. & H.G. Johnson (1976), “The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments: Essential Concepts and Historical Origins”, in: F. Jacob & H.G. Johnson (eds.) The Monetary Approach to the Balance of Payments (21-45), Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Kahan, A. & R. Hellie (1985), The Plow, the Hammer, and the Knout: An Economic History of Eighteenth-Century Russia, University of Chicago Press.
  • Karaman, K.K. & Ş. Pamuk (2010), “Ottoman State Finances in European Perspective, 1500-1914”, Journal of Economic History, 70(3), 593-629.
  • Karaman, K.K. & Ş. Pamuk (2016), “Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa Devletlerinde Tağşişler ve Nedenleri (1326-1844)”, METU Studies in Development, 43(1), 229-256.
  • Karaman, K.K. et al. (2020), “Money and Monetary Stability in Europe, 1300-1914”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 115, 279-300.
  • LeDonne, J.P. (1991), Absolutism and Ruling Class: The Formation of the Russian Political Order 1700-1825, Oxford University Press.
  • Losa, E.L. & S.P. Zarauz (2021), “Spanish Subsistence Wages and the Little Divergence in Europe, 1500-1800”, European Review of Economic History, 25(1), 59-84.
  • Magalhaes-Godinho, V. (1969), L’Economie de I’Empire Portugais aux X’Ve et XVI Siecles, Paris: Sevpen.
  • Malestroit, J.C. (1566), Les Paradoxes du Seigneur de Malestroit, conseillor du Roi et Maistre ordinaire de ses comptes, sur le faict des Monnoyes presented a Sa Majeste’ au mois de Mars MDLXVI, Paris.
  • Mironov, B.N. (2010), “Wages and Prices in Imperial Russia, 1703-1913”, Russian Review, 69(1), 47-72.
  • Muhlpeck, V. et al. (1979), “Index der Verbraucherpreise 1800-1914”, in: Z.O. Statistisches (ed.), Oesterreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt, Geschichte und Ergebnisse der Zentralen Amtlichen Statistik in Oesterreich 1829-1979 (649-688).
  • Ölçer, C. (1975), The Ornamental Copper Coinage of the Ottoman Empire, İstanbul: Yenilik Basımevi.
  • Özmucur, S. & Ş. Pamuk (2002), “Real Wages and Standards of Living in the Ottoman Empire, 1489-1914”, Journal of Economic History, 62(2), 293-321.
  • Palma, N. & J. Reis (2019), “From Convergence to Divergence: Portuguese Economic Growth, 1527-1850”, Journal of Economic History, 79(2), 477-506.
  • Palma, N. (2019), “The Existence and Persistence of Monetary Non-neutrality: Evidence from a Large-scale Historical Natural Experiment”, Economics Discussion Paper Series, EDP-1904.
  • Pamuk, Ş. (2000), A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge University Press.
  • Pamuk, Ş. (2001), “The Price Revolution in the Ottoman Empire Reconsidered”, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 33(1), 69-89.
  • Pfister, U. (2017), “The Timing and Pattern of Real Wage Divergence in Pre‐Industrial Europe: Evidence From Germany, c. 1500-1850”, The Economic History Review, 70(3), 701-729.
  • Ridolfi, L. (2017), “The French Economy in The Longue Durée: A Study On Real Wages, Working Days and Economic Performance From Louis IX To The Revolution (1250-1789)”, European Review of Economic History, 21(4), 437-438.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1958), “Kuruluştan XVII. Asrın Sonlarına Kadar Osmanlı Para Tarihi Üzerinde Bir Deneme”, Doktora Tezi, İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1965), “Bir Asırlık Osmanlı Para Tarihi, 1640-1740”, Doçentlik Tezi, İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1968), “Fatih’in Son Yıllarında Bakır Para Basılması ve Dağıtılması ile İlgili Belgeler”, Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi, 6, 72-75.
  • Sahillioğlu, H. (1982), “İkinci Süleyman ve İkinci Ahmed Zamanlarında Bakır Para Üzerinde Bir Enflasyon Denemesi, H. 1099-1103/M. 1687-1691”, Bülten No 10. İstanbul: Türk Nümismatik Derneği Yayını.
  • Samuelson, P.A. (1964), “Theoretical Notes on Trade Problems”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 46(2), 145-154.
  • Schaendlinger, A.C. (1973), Osmanische Numismatik: von den Anfängen des Osmanischen Reiches bis zu seiner Auflösung 1922 (Vol. 3), Klinkhardt & Biermann.
  • Spooner, F.C. (1972), The International Economy and Monetary Movements in France, 1493-1725, Harvard University Press.
  • Sultan, J. (1977), Coins of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic: a Detailed Catalogue of the Jem Sultan Collection (Vol. 1), B & R Publishers.
  • Van Zanden, J.L. & B. van Leeuwen (2012), “Persistent But Not Consistent: The Growth of National Income in Holland 1347-1807”, Explorations in Economic History, 49(2), 119-130.
There are 52 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Economics
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Kamil Kıvanç Karaman 0000-0003-0219-8439

Seçil Yıldırım-karaman 0000-0002-8083-7411

Publication Date October 25, 2022
Submission Date January 10, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 30 Issue: 54

Cite

APA Karaman, K. K., & Yıldırım-karaman, S. (2022). Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon. Sosyoekonomi, 30(54), 401-420. https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21
AMA Karaman KK, Yıldırım-karaman S. Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon. Sosyoekonomi. October 2022;30(54):401-420. doi:10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21
Chicago Karaman, Kamil Kıvanç, and Seçil Yıldırım-karaman. “Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti Ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon”. Sosyoekonomi 30, no. 54 (October 2022): 401-20. https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21.
EndNote Karaman KK, Yıldırım-karaman S (October 1, 2022) Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon. Sosyoekonomi 30 54 401–420.
IEEE K. K. Karaman and S. Yıldırım-karaman, “Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon”, Sosyoekonomi, vol. 30, no. 54, pp. 401–420, 2022, doi: 10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21.
ISNAD Karaman, Kamil Kıvanç - Yıldırım-karaman, Seçil. “Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti Ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon”. Sosyoekonomi 30/54 (October 2022), 401-420. https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21.
JAMA Karaman KK, Yıldırım-karaman S. Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon. Sosyoekonomi. 2022;30:401–420.
MLA Karaman, Kamil Kıvanç and Seçil Yıldırım-karaman. “Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti Ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon”. Sosyoekonomi, vol. 30, no. 54, 2022, pp. 401-20, doi:10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.04.21.
Vancouver Karaman KK, Yıldırım-karaman S. Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Devleti ve Avrupa’da Enflasyon. Sosyoekonomi. 2022;30(54):401-20.