The Economic and Political History Podcast

Why do some currencies become global—and why do they eventually disappear?In this episode of the Economic & Political History Podcast, Stanford political scientist Javier Mejia speaks with renowned economic historian Barry Eichengreen about more than 2,500 years of monetary history.From the first coins of Ancient Lydia and Classical Athens to the Spanish dollar, the Dutch guilder, the British pound, the U.S. dollar, China's renminbi, cryptocurrencies, and central bank digital currencies, this conversation explores the forces that determine which currencies become global.They discuss:• Why international currencies almost always emerge from politically stable states• The surprising history of Ancient Greece, Byzantium, Florence, Amsterdam, and London• Why the dollar has remained dominant despite repeated predictions of its decline• Whether China can challenge the dollar• Bitcoin, stablecoins, CBDCs, and the future of money• What history teaches us about the next international monetary orderBarry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science at UC Berkeley and one of the world's leading historians of international finance.If you enjoy long-form conversations about economics, political economy, history, and public policy, subscribe for future episodes.Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaCInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448fApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

How did one of history's greatest moral crimes come to be seen as legitimate?
In this episode, I speak with historian John Samuel Harpham about his remarkable new book The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery. Rather than focusing on plantations or nineteenth-century defenses of slavery, Harpham takes us back to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England to uncover the ideas that made slavery thinkable long before it became central to the American economy.
We discuss:
• Why an intellectual history of slavery matters
• Roman law and the rejection of Aristotle's theory of natural slavery
• The paradox of English liberty and the rise of the slave trade
• How seventeenth-century English writers viewed Africa
• Whether racism preceded slavery—or developed alongside it
• What this history tells us about moral blind spots in every society
Whether you're interested in American history, political thought, intellectual history, or the history of ideas, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on one of the defining institutions of the modern world.
John Samuel Harpham is the author of The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World.
If you enjoy conversations on history, economics, political theory, and the history of ideas, consider subscribing to the channel.

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Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448f
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

Interview with Dan Edelstein, author of 'The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin' (Princeton University Press)
Rather than telling the story of revolutions themselves, Edelstein traces the evolution of the idea of revolution—from ancient fears of political instability to the modern belief in revolution as a force for progress.
We explore how Enlightenment thinkers transformed the meaning of revolution, why modern revolutions often turn against pluralism, and how these ideas shaped events like the French and Bolshevik Revolutions.
Topics include:
-What is a revolution (and how it differs from revolt or rebellion)
-Ancient vs modern understandings of political change
-The Enlightenment and the idea of progress
-The French Revolution as a turning point
-Why revolutions often become anti-pluralist
-The “Red Leviathan” and revolutionary authority
-The legacy of revolutionary thinking today
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Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448f
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

Interview with Sophia Rosenfeld, author of 'The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life' (Princeton University Press)
What does it mean to be free?
Today we tend to think freedom means having more choices—more products to buy, more careers to pursue, more partners to date, more opinions to hold. But this idea is surprisingly new.
In this episode, historian Sophia Rosenfeld joins the podcast to discuss her book The Age of Choice, which traces how modern societies came to equate freedom with individual choice.
We explore how everyday practices—shopping, reading, dating, and voting—helped create the modern idea of the “choosing self.” Along the way, we discuss the promises and limits of choice, the role of women in the history of modern freedom, and why the ideal of choice may now be reaching its limits.
Topics include:- How consumer culture helped create the idea of personal choice- The history of choosing beliefs and opinions- Why romantic relationships reveal the limits of freedom-as-choice- How voting became a form of individual selection- The role of psychology and economics in defining the “rational chooser”- Whether modern societies have too much choiceThis conversation explores one of the most powerful ideas shaping modern life: that freedom means choosing for yourself.
------Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448f
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

Interview with Sven Beckert, author of 'Capitalism: A Global History' (Penguin Random House)Rather than treating capitalism as a natural or inevitable system, Beckert traces its emergence over the past millennium—showing how capitalism arose unevenly, through global connections, state power, coercion, and conflict.We discuss capitalism as a historical rupture, the idea of “islands of capital,” the role of merchants before capitalism fully existed, the necessity of the state, Europe’s divergence without Eurocentrism, the relationship between capitalism and the Industrial Revolution, resistance and rebellion, and what history can tell us about capitalism’s future.This conversation is for anyone interested in political economy, economic history, globalization, and the long-run forces that shaped the modern world.Topics covered:– What makes capitalism historically unique– Why capitalism emerged globally, not nationally– The role of the state in capitalist development– Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution– Crisis, reconstruction, and survival– Is capitalism inevitable—or transformable?Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaCInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448fApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817