The book is a collection of nine quantitative studies about Renaissance Florentine economy and society. Topics include plague outbreaks, interest rates, wealth distribution, taxes and subsidies, art history, neighbourhood segregation, competitive markets and monopoly power, women's work and business risk.

Richard T. Lindholm received a doctorate in history and in economics from the University of Chicago. He taught in the Department of Finance, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon.

List of Illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Risks and Returns; Chapter One The Costs and Benefits of Running Away: Late Medieval Florentine Plague Mortality and Behavior; Chapter Two When Economic Theory Meets Medieval Contracts: Calculating the Monte Comune Interest Rate; Part II. Society; Chapter Three The Chances of Getting Rich in Renaissance Florence: The Wool Industry Occupational Wealth Hierarchy; Chapter Four Palaces and Workers: Neighborhood Residential Segregation in Renaissance Florence; Chapter Five The "State" Makes a Work of Art: The Impact of the Catasto Homeowner Tax Loophole on the Quattrocento Florentine Palazzo Building Boom; Chapter Six Not Getting Ahead in Life: The Lack of Life- Cycle Wealth Accumulation in Quattrocento Tuscany; Part III. Work; Chapter Seven Just Doing Business: Testing Competition in the Renaissance Florentine Wool Industry; Chapter Eight Time for It All: Women in the Renaissance Florentine Wool Industry; Chapter Nine Why Were Renaissance Florentine Wool Industry Companies So Small?; Conclusion; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.