This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“Afterwards, when the dominion of the seas had passed into the hands of the Dutch another policy became prevalent in reference to piracy. When the Hanseatic League were supreme at sea, the pirate was considered as the enemy of the civilised world, and extirpated wherever that was possible. The Dutch, on the contrary, regarded the corsairs of Barbary as useful partisans, by whose means the marine commerce of other nations could be destroyed in times of peace, to the advantage of the Dutch.” – Friedrich List, Chapter 2: The Hansards, Page 11
“History everywhere shows us a powerful process of reciprocal action between the social and the individual powers and conditions. In the Italian and the Hanseatic cities, in Holland and England, in France and America, we find the powers of production, and consequently the wealth of individuals, growing in proportion to the liberties enjoyed, to the degree of perfection of political and social institutions, while these, on the other hand, derive material and stimulus for their further improvement from the increase of the material wealth and of the productive power of individuals.” – Friedrich List, Chapter 10: The Teachings of History, Pages 60-61
“History teaches that arts and trades migrated from city to
city, from one country to another.
Persecuted and oppressed at home, they took refuge in cities and in
countries where freedom, protection, and support were assured to them.” – Friedrich
List, Chapter 10: The Teachings of History, Page 62
Is This An Overview?
What cannot be produced
domestically, needs to be obtained through international trade. Sovereign states are limited in what they can
produce due to resources, industry, and politics. States prefer and benefit from free and
unrestricted trade when they have an agrarian economy, as they can export
surplus agriculture products in exchange for manufactured products and metal
resources. Trade policies change to
become more restricted when the state develops their culture and industry.
States borrow
skills and manufacturing ability from others, but then protect them
domestically. Competition has the effect
of improving the production ability of the competitors, but when domestic
producers want more market share, they use their power to appeal to political
representatives. Domestic producers ask
for restricting foreign competition, and the politicians tend to oblige.
Social and
political institutions effect the ability to produce material wealth. States that had more liberty, had more
production ability. Liberty brings with
it industry, invention, and enterprise. People
who are persecuted in a state, take their skills to states that would support
them. Infrastructure accompanies the
development of manufacturing ability, to enhance access to the market.
Caveats?
This book is difficult to read, with
antediluvian references. A diverse
history of trade is presented, but more research will be needed to understand
any state or situation. Various economic
ideas remain valid, but their explanations have been improved.
