Pioneers of Capitalism - (Princeton Economic History of the Western World) by Maarten Prak & Jan Luiten Van Zanden

About the Book

"The Netherlands was one of the pioneers of capitalism in the Middle Ages, giving rise to the spectacular Dutch Golden Age while ushering in an era of unprecedented, long-term economic growth across Europe. Pioneers of Capitalism examines the informal institutions in the Netherlands that made this economic miracle possible, providing a groundbreaking new history of the emergence and early development of capitalism. Drawing on the latest quantitative theories in economic research, Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten van Zanden show how Dutch cities, corporations, guilds, commons, and other private and semipublic organizations provided safeguards for market transactions in the state's absence. Informal institutions developed in the Netherlands long before the state created public safeguards for economic activity. Prak and van Zanden argue that, in the Netherlands itself, capitalism emerged within a robust civil society that constrained and counterbalanced its centrifugal forces, but that an unrestrained capitalism ruled in the overseas territories. Rather than collapsing under unrestricted greed, the Dutch economy flourished, but prosperity at home came at the price of slavery and other dire consequences for people outside Europe."--

Book Synopsis

How medieval Dutch society laid the foundations for modern capitalism

The Netherlands was one of the pioneers of capitalism in the Middle Ages, giving rise to the spectacular Dutch Golden Age while ushering in an era of unprecedented, long-term economic growth. Pioneers of Capitalism examines the formal and informal institutions in the Netherlands that made this economic miracle possible, providing a groundbreaking new history of the emergence and early development of capitalism.

Drawing on the latest quantitative theories in economic research, Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten van Zanden show how Dutch cities, corporations, guilds, commons, and other private and semipublic organizations provided safeguards for market transactions in the state's absence. Informal institutions developed in the Netherlands long before the state created public safeguards for economic activity. Prak and van Zanden argue that, in the Netherlands itself, capitalism emerged within a robust civil society that constrained and counterbalanced its centrifugal forces, but that an unrestrained capitalism ruled in the overseas territories. Rather than collapsing under unrestricted greed, the Dutch economy flourished, but prosperity at home came at the price of slavery and other dire consequences for people outside Europe.

Pioneers of Capitalism offers a panoramic account of the early history of capitalism, revealing how a small region of medieval Europe transformed itself into a powerhouse of sustained economic growth, and changed the world in the process.

Review Quotes

"[Pioneers of Capitalism] shows on every page exceptional erudition and wide command of the topic, an ability to adopt very long and wide perspectives, and great skill in providing tables and graphs that are straightforward and easy to take in at a glance but that tell a big story in a small space. . . . [B]rilliant, well written, and unmissable for anyone with an interest in economic and social history."---Jonathan I. Israel, Journal of Modern History

"

[Pioneers of Capitalism] surpasses the previous syntheses of Dutch capitalism by bringing it in line with recent developments in economic history. . . . Fascinating.

"---Bas Spliet, Journal of European Economic History

"[Pioneers of Capitalism] will be the standard work on the topic for years and perhaps decades to come, as it offers a very well-written and powerful account of the rise and fall of the Dutch Republic in the medieval and early modern periods."---Gijs Dreijer, Business History Review

"[Prak and van Zanden] have provided a path forward for studying economic history that takes complexity seriously without letting it prevent us from getting to the important truths of economic history. One can only hope that more social and economic historians follow Prak and van Zanden's path in the future."---Samuel Gregg, Engelsberg Ideas

"An excellent book."---Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

"A FiveBooks Best Economic History Book of the Year"

About the Author

Maarten Prak is professor of social and economic history at Utrecht University. His books include Citizens without Nations: Urban Citizenship in Europe and the World, c. 1000-1789. Jan Luiten van Zanden is professor of global economic history at Utrecht University. His books include The Strictures of Inheritance: The Dutch Economy in the Nineteenth Century (Princeton).