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| Author: | Lindberg, E. |
| Title: | Mercantilisim and urban inequalities in eighteenth-century Sweden |
| Journal: | Scandinavian economic history review
2007 : VOL. 55:1, p. 1-19 |
| Index terms: | economic history inequality income distribution Sweden |
| Freeterms: | mercantilism |
| Language: | eng |
| Abstract: | It is sometimes argued that inequality promotes growth. If savings are the key to economic growth and the marginal propensity to save rises with income, a more unequal society will save more and grow faster. Thus, by sacrificing equality and concentrating income and wealth in the hands of the entrepreneurial class, society might enjoy higher economic growth. The economic policies taken by the Swedish state during the 18th century had the explicit goal of concentrating trade and opportunities for income formation and capital accumulation in the hands of the merchant class. Both an older tradition as well as recent research have emphasized the positive sides of thse policies, as the privileged merchants are depicted as dynamic engines of growth and an important factor in the process of capital accumulation. However, this study argues that this assertion is not warranted. |
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