Empire of Silver

Silver, first used as money in China under the Song dynasty around 900 CE, is the thread of Jin Xu's thousand-year monetary history. Xu shows how silver slowly became central to the Chinese economy until it was formally made money during the mid-Ming period, in the sixteenth century. Because China had taken up paper money early, silver was never struck into coins and stayed an awkward currency measured by weight, its ingots endlessly checked for weight and purity. Xu argues that although the hunger for silver opened new trade and enlarged China's place in the world economy, over time it kept the country from modernizing its finances and helped bring about the empire's decline.

It appears on Tyler Cowen's list of the best non-fiction books of 2021.