How did the Dutch economy, taken as a whole, function over the period 1500- 1815? What were the driving forces behind its spectacular growth? What stood in the way of its later development? Is it possible (and if so, is it sensible) to measure the chief dimensions of this economy's development through the early modern period? Answers to these “big” questions have been implied in the preceding chapters on structural characteristics and sectoral developments, but here we attempt to tie together the various strands of our analysis to address key issues of the overall development of the Dutch economy. We begin with a succinct presentation of salient features of the economy in each of five periods into which we propose to organize Dutch economic history. We turn then to an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of three alternative approaches to understanding the dynamics that connect these periods, and we conclude with a quantitative portrait of Europe's first modern economy.

Phases of economic development

BEFORE THE REVOLT

The vitality of Holland's economy in the two centuries preceding the Revolt derived from an historic conjuncture of two forces. Internally, the ecological processes described in Chapter 2 stimulated a transformation of the rural economy that forced thousands of persons from the land and into the towns. At a time in which most of Europe continued to suffer from postplague labor shortages, the maritime zones of the northern Netherlands featured an elastic supply of labor for nonagricultural employments.