The Dutch golden age
Thirdly, in accordance with Weber’s views on the ascetic n ature of early capitalism, the Dutch Golden Age economy was characterized by comparatively high levels of savings and capital investment across all its sectors. 12 It is difficult to deny that through condemnation of conspicuous consumption, Reformed Protestantism was favourable to saving and profit reinvestment. Higher savings, in turn, played a crucial role in financing the expansion of the economy’s capital stock, leading to higher labour productivity and improved competitiveness. For example, probate statements from the district of Leeuwarderadeel show that the average value of farming equipment relative to the average value of total household wealth expanded from less than 10% to in 1580 to over 17% a century later. 13 The benefits of higher savings and reinvestment of retained profits are also evident in the history of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The company increased its assets from the initial value of 6.4m guilders in 1602 to over 40m guilders by 1660 entirely through retained earnings. 14 This tendency to reinvest existing profits in new assets seems consistent with Weber’s notion that Calvinism facilitated capital accumulation through promoting economical attitudes in financial management. Nonetheless, numerous historical sources contradict the Weberian narrative of economic development. Firstly, recent analysis of written and archaeological sources casts doubts over the religious origins of the Dutch preference for saving and investment over immediate consumption. In their analysis of late-medieval tax records and extant remnants of Dutch moneyboxes, J. Zuijderduijn and R. van Oosten show that saving behaviour was already present in Holland prior to the onset of the Protestant Reformation. 15 For instance, in 1462 approximately 45% of households in the Dutch municipality of Edam reported owning cash savings. 16 The authors concluded that the population of late- medieval Holland was highly ‘disciplined’ with respect to their finances. Consequently, the economic virtue of frugality, which is frequently associated with the influence of Protestant thought, was already highly developed in the preponderantly Catholic society of late-medieval Netherlands. Secondly, according to de Vries, numerous characteristic features of modern economies were already present prior to the introduction of Protestantism. 17 These characteristics included a high level of marketization and the absence of legal impediments to entrepreneurial activity. De Vries argues that this progressive nature of the medieval Dutch economy can be a ttributed to the ‘absence of significant feudal traditions’. 18 The weakness of feudal institutions distinguished the medieval Dutch society from its contemporaries. This socioeconomic flexibility is clearly illustrated by the diverse patterns of landownership and the specialized, market-oriented nature of Dutch agriculture. 19 Dutch smallholders faced no formal constrains in delivering their products to the market. As a result, they often cultivated more sophisticated, high-value crops destined for sale rather than personal consumption. Even more importantly however, the economic flexibility of the Northern Netherlands nurtured a new attitude to economic activity. As de Vries noted, ‘where the collectivity is weak, the individual and individualistic behaviour necessarily become more prominent. This creates a situation where personal initiative,
12 De Vries, van der Woude 2010: 200-203. 13 Ibid. : 203. 14 Ibid.: 670. 15 Zuijerdujin, van Oosten 2015: 25. 16 Ibid. : 26. 17 See de Vries 2010: 159-165.
18 Ibid. : 160. 19 Ibid.: 161.
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