Description
Book SynopsisIn Carriers of Growth? Ann Coenen sheds new light on the vigorous debate about international trade and economic development in the Early Modern Period. The Austrian Netherlands offer an intriguing case that challenges ruling opinions within the largely Anglo-Saxon literature. By focusing on a number of key trade sectors (salt, textiles, colonial commodities, coal and grain) Ann Coenen exposes the various effects of trade and trade policy throughout all layers of the eighteenth-century society.
Table of ContentsPreface ... ix List of Map, Charts and Tables ... xi List of Abbreviations ... xv Glossary ... xvi Introduction ... 1 Part 1 Theoretical Background 1 International Trade and Economic Development ... 11 2 The Austrian Netherlands in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century: A Cautious Recovery ... 17 3 International Trade by a Commercially ‘Passive’ Participant ... 22 4 Sources for the History of Eighteenth-Century International Trade ... 27 1 The Habsburg Customs Statistics: Magnum Opus of the Customs Administration ... 27 2 The Tariff Books: A Look Behind the Curtain of the Trade Policy ... 33 3 The Large Legacy of the Bureau de la régie ... 36 Part 2 International Trade in the Austrian Netherlands: An Assessment of Its Value 5 The Balance of Trade ... 41 1 State of the Art ... 42 2 Approach ... 44 3 Results ... 46 4 What Did It Mean? ... 57 5 The Pitfalls of the Balance of Trade ... 60 6 Revealed Comparative Advantages Through International Trade Contributions ... 61 7 Conclusion ... 65 Part 3 International Trade in the Austrian Netherlands, a Study of Five Key Sectors 6 The Salt Trade: The Flavour of Progress ... 69 1 “The salt of life” ... 69 2 The Salt Sector in the Austrian Netherlands ... 70 3 The Salt Flows ... 82 4 Contradicting Histories? ... 90 5 Conclusion ... 93 7 The Textile Trade: A Tradition in Decay? ... 95 1 The Eighteenth-Century Textile Sector ... 95 2 The Economic Weight of the Textile Branches ... 97 3 A Textile Landscape in Evolution ... 106 4 Explaining the Shifts Within the Textile Sector ... 153 5 The Impact of Trade on Different Stakeholders ... 163 6 Conclusion ... 169 8 The Trade in Colonial Commodities: Introducing the Exotic ... 173 1 The Irresistible Lure of Exotic Produce ... 175 2 Incorporating the New ... 185 3 Market Capacity or Smart Policy? ...195 4 Conclusion ... 198 9 The Coal Trade: A Motor for Development? ... 199 1 “The Basis, as Always, was Coal” ... 199 2 The Coal Sector: In Britain’s Shadow? ... 202 3 International Trade: Source de prospérité or Paralysing Influence? ... 204 4 The Coal Flows ... 214 5 Effects of the Coal Trade on the Habsburg Economy ... 223 6 Parallels Between the Salt and the Coal Sector ... 228 7 Conclusion ... 230 10 To Trade or Not to Trade? The Grain Trade ... 232 1 Grains in the Eighteenth-Century Austrian Netherlands ... 234 2 Changing Policies: Fickleness or Decisiveness? ... 236 3 The International Grain Trade: Capricious Flows ... 245 4 Conclusion ... 251 Part 4 The Development of Transit Trade as theTrade Policy’s Litmus Test 11 Transit Trade ... 255 Conclusion ... 271 Appendices ... 277 Bibliography ... 298 Index ... 316
