Trade and Nation: How Companies and Politics Reshaped Economic Thought

311 Pages·2021·8.359 MB·English

by  Emily Erikson

TRADE AND NATION
THE MIDDLE RANGE
THE MIDDLE RANGE
Edited by Peter S. Bearman and Shamus R. Khan
The Middle Range, coined and represented by Columbia sociologist Robert Merton, is a style of
work that treats theory and observation as a single endeavor. This approach has yielded the most
significant advances in the social sciences over the last half century; it is a defining feature of
Columbia’s department. This book series seeks to capitalize on the impact of approaches of the
middle range and to solidify the association between Columbia University and its Press.
The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media,
Catherine J. Turco
Working for Respect: Community and Conflict at Walmart, Adam Reich and Peter Bearman
Judge Thy Neighbor: Denunciations in the Spanish Inquisition, Romanov Russia, and Nazi
Germany, Patrick Bergemann
Concepts and Categories: Foundations for Sociological and Cultural Analysis, Michael
T. Hannan, Gaël Le Mens, Greta Hsu, Balázs Kovács, Giacomo Negro, László Pólos,
Elizabeth Pontikes, and Amanda J. Sharkey
The Corsairs of Saint-Malo: Network Organization of a Merchant Elite Under the Ancien
Régime, Henning Hillmann
Trade and Nation
HOW COMPANIES AND POLITICS RESHAPED
ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Emily Erikson
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support for this
book provided by Publisher’s Circle member Harriet Zuckerman.
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2021 Emily Erikson
All rights reserved
Names: Erikson, Emily, author.
Title: Trade and nation : how companies and politics reshaped
economic thought / Emily Erikson.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2021. |
Series: The middle range | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2020056181 (print) | LCCN 2020056182 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780231184342 (hardback) | ISBN 9780231184359 (trade paperback) |
ISBN 9780231545440 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Great Britain—Commerce—History—17th century. |
Free trade—Great Britain—History—17th century. |
Merchants—Great Britain—History—17th century. |
Great Britain—Economic policy.
Classification: LCC HF3505 .E75 2021 (print) | LCC HF3505 (ebook) |
DDC 381.0942—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020056181
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020056182
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Julia Kushnirsky
Cover image: Jan Gossaert, Portrait of a Merchant, c. 1530.
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. Courtesy of the National Gallery
of Art, Washington, D.C.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
Introduction 1
Chapter One
The Declining Importance of Fair Exchange 25
Chapter Two
Transformative Debates 63
Chapter Three
Key Actors, Institutions, and Relations 98
Chapter Four
Authors and Their Networks 134
Chapter Five
Representation, Companies, and Publications 173
Chapter Six
Why Not the Dutch? 203
Conclusion 235
BIBLIOGRAPHY 255
INDEX 279

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the listing of primary sources, a serious attempt has been made to retain
period capitalization and spelling. This attempt produces inconsistencies.
A reader might notice, for example, that Denzil Holles’s name is spelled
Hollis in the title of one of his publications. That kind of thing was not
uncommon in the seventeenth century. It is also difficult to separate typo-
graphical flourishes commonly used on frontispieces in the early modern
era from capitalization practices, ESPECIALLY WHEN PRINTERS USED
ALL CAPS FOR PORTIONS OF VERY LONG SUBTITLES. I did not
adopt this style and ultimately relied on the title as presented in the Making
of the Modern World database or, in a smaller number of cases, another
catalog. When I began the research project and collected my data, the Mak-
ing of the Modern World database had a different graphical user interface.
The new interface is a contemporary update and looks nicer, but it has been
harder for me to work with, and I cannot call up some of the titles accessed
previously. There are also some differences in who is listed as author that
have left me unsatisfied. Many of these differences are related to legitimate
controversies over authorship, which is complicated in this period in which
pseudonyms were commonplace. In these cases, I have tried to follow the
most recent research and consensus. I did not, however, dive into analyzing
texts for authorship and make no claims that I am adding any new informa-
tion to these debates or legitimacy to one side or another.
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I list original works under primary sources. Some of these are Dutch works.
I use the Dutch title when referring to the primary document; however, I do
not read medieval Dutch nor Latin. I read these texts in English translations,
which are listed in the secondary sources when appropriate. Unless other-
wise indicated, all figures and tables were produced by the author.
Many people helped me over the years it took to produce this book. Of
the many thanks I want to distribute, the first I owe to my family, who make
all of this worthwhile. Joe helped me innumerable times with coding prob-
lems and actually collected some of the Dutch publication data. Gabriella’s
naturally supportive personality and pride in my accomplishments lifted
my spirits many times, just as simply being around her does.
Heather Haveman deserves special credit for extensive comments on an
early draft. Peter Bearman was encouraging early on, as were Woody Pow-
ell, Jennifer Lena, Nitsan Chorev, Richard Breen, Mark Mizruchi, Eliza-
beth Bruch, Damon Centola, and many other people that I will not be able
recall properly. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Joe Parent, who read
through the entire manuscript at a late stage and offered numerous com-
ments and complaints that were both a pleasure to read and a huge help.
He is responsible for one pun that entered into the manuscript; I won’t say
which one, but will say that he is a big Diana Ross fan. William Goetzmann,
who is a wonderful colleague, also read through the entire draft and gave me
extremely helpful comments and some peace of mind. Other people who
read chapters and commented include Daniel Hirschman, Cristobal Young,
Joscha Legewie, Mattias Smångs, and Patrick Bergemann. Henning Hill-
mann allowed me to use the data he collected on company investment for
chapter 4. Mark Hamilton and I coauthored the paper on which chapter 5 is
based, so he contributed a great deal to this chapter. He is a terrific person
and a pleasure to work with. Parts of that article, published in the American
Journal of Sociology, are present in chapter 5 and appear in other places in
the book. A version of chapter 6 has appeared in the Socio-Economic Review.
The Yale Library is a treasure, and I received help from Michael Printy,
Gwyneth Crowley, Peter Leonard, Michelle Hudson, and Christine Riggle.
Douglas Douhaime needs to be singled out for being a miracle worker.
I also received help from librarians overseas. Thank you, Ida Nijenhuis and
Marinus Bierens!
I had a huge amount of research assistance. Thank you to Garth Holden,
Elexis Ellis, David Ko, Eric Feltham, Brian Kitano, Tina Wang, Jason Arroyo,
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
and Kimberly Cruz! I look forward to seeing your books in print eventu-
ally. I first developed the idea that began this book at a conference held by
Julian Go and George Lawson, two lovely people to whom I am intellectu-
ally and personally indebted. I am extremely grateful for the advice I got at
a prepublication conference attended by many illustrious figures, includ-
ing Naomi Lamoreaux, Steven Pincus, Phil Withington, Julia Adams, Phil
Gorski, Mattias Smångs, Kate Stovel, Tim Rutzou, and my amazing editor,
Eric Schwartz. There are so many others to whom I am indebted. Let me
close by dedicating the book to Harrison White, for surely I would have
never taken this path or had these ideas without his influence and support.