Bernard Mandeville and the 'Economy' of the Dutch

Studies of Bernard Mandeville by economists and historians of economic thought have focused overwhelmingly on the problem of situating his work within the development of the theory of laissez-faire and evaluating his influence on major figures in the Scottish Enlightenment, especially Adam Smith. This paper explores Mandeville's economic thought through the lens of a very different transition: England's rapid growth following the Glorious Revolution and its gradual eclipse of Dutch economic hegemony. By situating Mandeville within an Anglo-Dutch context and carefully examining his comments on the Dutch in quot;Remark Qquot; of The fable of the bees, the paper shows the manner in which Mandeville's ideas both appropriated lessons from Dutch history and sought to revise ideas about the Dutch current among his English contemporaries. The paper thus sheds new light on core concepts in Mandeville's economic thought and permits exploration of an important moment in the development of political economy