Dark Matter Credit: The Development of Peer-to-Peer Lending and Banking in France

How a vast network of shadow credit financed European growth long before the advent of banking

Prevailing wisdom dictates that, without banks, countries would be mired in poverty. Yet somehow much of Europe managed to grow rich long before the diffusion of banks. Dark Matter Credit draws on centuries of cleverly collected loan data from France to reveal how credit abounded well before banks opened their doors. This incisive book shows how a vast system of shadow credit enabled nearly a third...