Economic development in early modern France : the privilege of liberty, 1650-1820 / Jeff Horn Manhattan College.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Horn, Jeff (Historian), author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in economic history. Second series.

Cambridge studies in economic history. Second series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development--France--History.

Economic development.

France--Economic conditions--17th century.

France.

France--Economic conditions--18th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 319 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Privilege has long been understood as the constitutional basis of Ancien Régime France, legalising the provision of a variety of rights, powers and exemptions to some, whilst denying them to others. In this fascinating new study however, Jeff Horn reveals that Bourbon officials utilized privilege as an instrument of economic development, freeing some sectors of the economy from pre-existing privileges and regulations, while protecting others. He explores both government policies and the innovations of entrepreneurs, workers, inventors and customers to uncover the lived experience of economic development from the Fronde to the Restoration. He shows how, influenced by Enlightenment thought, the regime increasingly resorted to concepts of liberty to defend privilege as a policy tool. The book offers important new insights into debates about the impact of privilege on early industrialisation, comparative economic development and the outbreak of the French Revolution.

Contents:

Introduction: Profits and economic development during the old régime

Privileged enclaves and the guilds: liberty and regulation

The privilege of liberty put to the test: industrial development in Normandy

Companies, colonies, and contraband: commercial privileges under the old régime

Privilege, liberty, and managing the market: trading with the Levant

Outside the body politic, essential to the body economic: the privileges of Jews, protestants, and foreign residents

Privilege, innovation, and the state: entrepreneurialism and the lessons of the old régime

The reign of liberty? Privilege after 1789.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-25533-6

1-316-23641-2

1-316-25343-0

1-316-24965-4

1-316-25154-3

1-316-23452-5

1-316-24775-9

1-107-11007-6