During this panel discussion, Dennis Flynn, emeritus professor at the University of Pacific and director of the Pacific World History Institute, will introduce his unconventional model of supplies and demands within the context of East Asian history and the birth of globalization. His talk will illustrate the historical roots of accumulated wealth components, wealth accumulation in general and wealth inequality. 

Following Flynn's talk, Xiaolin Duan, associate professor of Chinese history in the Department of History at NC State, will briefly discuss internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of Chinese sericulture and silk production in the 17th-century crisis. Applying the law of supplies and demands, this case study presents interconnections between China, Manila, and New Spain.

R. Kent Guy, professor emeritus of Chinese history at the University of Washington, and Elvira Vilches, associate professor of romance studies at Duke University, will offer comments and lead a discussion from their respective expertise on Late Imperial China and global capitalism in early modern Spain.

Light refreshments will be available.