This book highlights the contribution of language standardization to the economic rise of the West between 1600 and 1860. Previous studies have been unable to explain why during this period almost all industrial innovation was confined to small areas around the main cultural centers of three...

"During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this...

"Global trade and colonial extraction drew the early modern world closer together, carving out circuits in which silver and gold crossed oceans and continents.1 What forms did these metals take, and whose practices constituted these forms? The 3,500 coins in the collection of the Dutch lawyer...

The international financial crisis of 2007-08 and the ensuing scandals continue to raise important debates about the role of institutions in maintaining trust and fighting corruption, as well as in sustaining economic growth and political stability in a globalized world. This book proposes to...

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- FOREWORD -- PREFACE TO THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- THE PASSIONS AND THE INTERESTS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE. How the Interests were Called Upon to Counteract the Passions -- PART TWO. How Economic Expansion was Expected to Improve the...