
Dr Andrew McDiarmid
Postdoctoral Fellow, November 2019 - August 2020
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Project: Crowdfunding Projects in Scotland during the long‐eighteenth century: A study of Tontine equity financing
Whether it is the debate around the potential opportunities or pitfalls in funding local services post-Brexit, the impact of progressive devolved taxation in Scotland, or Modern Monetary Theory’s understanding of the economy, people are becoming increasingly interested in different forms of public finance.
A curiosity in historic forms of finance has emerged as part of the debate, with my own research contributing to this. Current debates very often appear to duplicate old debates. In this convention, a financial instrument that is remerging with marked interest is the tontine.
This was a scheme traditionally used as a type of life annuity with a dividend that increased as its members died. It was however also used to fund building and infrastructural projects (you don’t need to go far in Scotland to find Tontine Street, or Tontine buildings).
My project with IASH will revaluate the significance of this financial instrument, reconsidering its long-term impact. This research will build on the work that I have already produced on early modern economic/social history, and will contribute to my output over the next three years.
My PhD was completed at the University of Dundee working with Professor Jim Livesey. I also spent a term at the Yale Graduate School under the supervision of Professor Steve Pincus. During my time at IASH I will be mentored by Paul Kosmetatos.
Publications:
Current and forthcoming articles
‘Youth & School Student Discontent, 1911-12: Dundee in Context', The Scottish Labour History Journal, (Glasgow, 2014)
‘The Equivalent Societies of Edinburgh and London, the Formation of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Nature of the Scottish Financial Revolution’, in The Journal of British Studies. This has been accepted by the journal and will be published shortly.
‘“We are far from fairy tale Mr Chancellor”; John Law and the Proposed National Bank of France, 1701-02’, in The Scottish Historical Review. Revisions are currently being made for resubmission.
Reports
What are the Impacts of the Creative Industries on Dundee? (Dundee, 2018)
Reviews
The Political Economy of Mercantilism, by Lars Magnusson (review no. 1993), The University of London School of Advanced Study (London, 2016)
A Concise History of International Finance: From Babylon to Bernanke, by Larry Neal (review no. 1899), The University of London School of Advanced Study (London, 2016)
I am also currently preparing the manuscript for my first book.