Part IX. Commerce in Braudel and the Marxists
“Commercialization” and “monetization” dance with stage theories from Smith to modern growth theory. The sheer growth of traded or the sheer growth of money, though, do not an Industrial Revolution make. The ill-named “Price Revolution,” for example, came from American gold, not from population increases, and did not inspire innovation. Commercialization comes from falling transaction costs, which should be directly studied. Fernand Braudel, however, argued for commercialization as a force transforming “capitalism.” He distinguished “capitalism” from local trade, which no economist would, and assigned blame to the capitalists. Though hardly a Marxist, he—like a brilliant group of leftish economists such as Marglin and Lazonick—puts emphasis on the struggle over the spoils. But it was not such struggles that made the modern world. It was the positive sum arising from innovation.
I am nitpicking, but the Noordermarkt on saturdays is a rather exclusive biological food market offering not cheap, but rather expensive products to the health- and environment-conscious bourgeois of Amsterdam. Albert’s surname, by the way, is spelled Heijn.
Written by Ralf on September 29th, 2009.Beste Ralf,
Thanks. I had in mind the ordinary one near it, along the filled-in gracht, not the one you’re thinking of, close to kerk. I’ll fix it, and Albert Heijn’s spelling!
Deirdre
Written by Deirdre McCloskey on September 29th, 2009.Corrections: The original Prudentia publication misspelled Albert Heijn and inadvertently referred to Amsterdam’s Lindengracht market as the Noordermarkt. (Thanks to Prof. Futselaar for noting the errors).
Written by Journal staff on September 30th, 2009.[...] Deirdre McCloskey Turns Economics Upside Down – Now in Stockholm. The rogue economist Deirdre McCloskey will be in Stockholm 18-19 May 2010. She has just published a new book that might be soothing to all the social contructivists, Marxists and non-economists out there: Why Economics can’t explain the modern world. There is a Beta draft version of it on her web page; read it and weep all you rational choicers! Oh, and did I mention she is one of the world’s leading economics historians? Here is the book [...]
Written by Deirdre McCloskey Turns Economics Upside Down – Now in Stockholm « Why We Do It on May 9th, 2010.Dears, I do intend the soothe the people you mention, but not to damage my beloved economics: a “humanomics,” as Bart Smith calls it, would let in meaning, and economics would be as a result a better science. I hope I am not a “rogue”! I merely try to say what is true: trade is universal, Harberger triangles can’t explain the modern world, language matters for the economy, statistical significance is mistake, existence theorems are a waste of scientific time. Regards, Deirdre
Written by Deirdre McCloskey on May 10th, 2010.