Afscheid van de stapelmarkt

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 Veluwenkamp
Lesger 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).