The Netherlands

The Dutch, the Low Countries

2025-02-18 — 2025-02-18

Wherein the origins of several capitalist practices are traced to the Low Countries, and the first major financial bubbles are observed, while colonial ties to Indonesia are noted and Rijksmuseum holdings are consulted.

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Figure 1

Placeholder. I knew little about the Low Countries, but between my abiding interest in Indonesia, the jewel in the former Dutch trading empire, and the fact that I live in Australia, a country discovered for Europe by the Dutch, and my obsession with the Dutch Rijksmuseum, I confess I have intrigued myself.

1 Inventions of capitalism

Many early features of capitalism started in the Netherlands.

2 References

Het Groote Tafereel Der Dwaasheid … Familien En Persoonen Van Hooge En Lage Stand Zyn Geruineerd, En in Haar Middelen Verdorven, En De Opregte Negotie Gestremt, Zo in Vrankryk, Engeland Als Nederland … Gedrukt Tot Waarschouwinge Voor De Nakomelingen in ’t Noodlottige Jaar, Voor Veel Zotte En Wyze. 1720.
Tawney. 1926. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.