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To: Ilaine who wrote (366)	8/31/2001 1:03:57 AM
From: JF Quinnelly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 443

Credit has existed since there have been banks to lend it- which appears to be since around 1300 or so. In order to create a boom and bust cycle, the amount of credit would have to be big enough to make an impact on the economy, plus the cash economy (versus the barter economy) would have to be significant. The earliest boom and busts I can think of would be France's John Law experience, and the Dutch tulip bubble. I'm not sure how or if credit played a role in the tulip bubble, so that might be worth looking at. Credit expansion was definitely a factor in the John Law affair. I suspect that before the advent of modern banking, economies followed the fate of the agricultural cycle. Or maybe a gold strike.