Money, Markets, and Trade in Early Southeast Asia - (Studies on Southeast Asia) by Robert S Wicks (Paperback)

About the Book

This substantial work explores the impact of monetization in premodern Southeast Asia from the third century BCE to the rise of Maleka in the early fifteenth century. The author explores why concepts of money developed unevenly throughout the region...

Book Synopsis

This substantial work explores the impact of monetization in premodern Southeast Asia from the third century BCE to the rise of Maleka in the early fifteenth century. The author explores why concepts of money developed unevenly throughout the region. He considers trade policies, price controls, exchange ratios, monopolies, variant standards of value, and the administrative structures required to support such a complex economic innovation.

Review Quotes

Essential reading for all investigators of early Southeast Asian political, social, and economic history. It not only synthesizes the disparate epigraphic, numismatic, archaeological, and other literature relevant to the early economy of Southeast Asia, but also advances interpretations to set an agenda for further discussion and debate.