Gold bought mercenaries. A lack of gold during the late 1600s was drawing England into a terrible deflation.
On Fri, Dec 03, 2004 at 12:23:54PM -0500, Doug Henwood wrote: > Devine, James wrote: > > > >"The treasures captured outside Europe by undisguised looting, > >enslavement, and murder, floated back to the mother-country and were > >there turned into _capital_ ( emphasis CB) "< > > > >I can't channel Bob today, since for some reason the ether is occluded > >by bad vibes. But I'd guess that he might use the metaphor that I've > >used before in pen-l. The destruction of the English independent > >peasantry and the resulting creation a large proletariat (dependent on > >the capitalists for survival) created an engine of growth for England. > >Looting from the colonies, the slave trade, etc. provided fuel for that > >engine at a crucial time. > > The slave trade, yes, because that's a form of noncapitalist labor > that nonetheless produces commodities that enter capitalist > circulation - but loot? How would metals and other treasures provide > fuel? Wouldn't they be more like an increase of money that doesn't > emerge from an increase in productive capacity, and therefore is more > likely to raise the price level than stimulate accumulation? > > Doug -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
