Abstract
C. Lesger, Handel in Amsterdam ten tijde van de Opstand. Kooplieden, commerciële expansie en verandering in de ruimtelijke economie van de Nederlanden ca. 1550-ca. 1630 Farewell to the Staple Market, Jan Willem VeluwenkampLesger argues that Amsterdam's essential function in international trade in the seventeenth century was turnover promotion through price stabilisation. Claiming that the relevant mechanism involved information provision rather than stockpiling, he convincingly bids farewell to the historiographical tradition of the Amsterdam staple market and introduces Amsterdam as the centre of information provision. I contest two aspects of Lesger's argument. Unlike him, I do not think that information provision was decisive in Amsterdam's commercial expansion around 1600: Prior to 1585, information exchange and expansion were characteristic for Antwerp too. The Amsterdam acceleration essentially involved the penetration of Asia and the Atlantic area, which was mainly provoked by the war. In addition, I think that Lesger underestimates the Dutch intermediate trade. On the one hand, Dutch industry-related import and export were more significant than he indicates. On the other hand, he attaches too little meaning to the fact that Dutchmen dominated international commerce even when they did not steer all commodity flows via the Dutch Republic. This review is part of the discussion forum 'Handel in Amsterdam' (Clé Lesger).
Highlights
Lesger behandelt in zijn boek drie thema's: de commerciële expansie van Amsterdam rond 1600, de structuur en de functie van het Nederlandse handelsstelsel in de jaren 1550-1585, met Antwerpen als kern, en de structuur en de functie van het Noord-Nederlandse handelsstelsel in de jaren 1585-1630, met Amsterdam als kern
Kooplieden, commerciële expansie en verandering in de ruimtelijke economie van de Nederlanden, ca. 1550-1630 (Hilversum, 2001)
Summary
Document Version Publisher's PDF, known as Version of record. Publication date: 2003 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database. More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverneamendment. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum
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