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Rating: 
Summary: ASTOUNDING RESEARCH AND EXTREMELY ENLIGHTENING
Review: Braudels history of Commerce paints a vivid picture of how commerce has evolved. It is uniquely relative information for all individuals interested in creating wealth. As it deals how others marketed their goods and services in the past. The presentation of the information in the book is first-class. I am now rereading the book for the fourth time....
Rating:
Summary: from lifestyle, to systems
Review: Historians, they say, are either lumpers or splitters: the former seek to make generalizations while the latter seek to refute and refine them. Braudel strikes a balance between these approaches, at one time examining the economic point of view (and related theoretical controversies, such as the ideas of Schumpeter on innovation), while searching for historical examples that support or obliterate them. He is a true master scholar.This volume adds to the first, moving from living standards to the establishment and functioning of trading and banking systems, both by capitalists (holders of sufficient resources to manipulate markets) and the merchants and craftsmen who operated within these markets. It is a crucial distinction that demonstrates how simple-minded the ideological argument of "free markets" can be: the rich can and do design economic systems to function to their advantage. You follow the development of international trading networks by Italians, Jews and Armenians; the evolution of banking and the handling of paper money; and even the influence of social hierarchies on economic growth. While Braudel concentrates almost exclusively on Europe in this volume, which lessens the universality of his approach, it is utterly fascinating from page one. The economic systems he analyses were somewhat incomplete, though evolving rapidly. An additional limit to his approach is the exclusive focus on econimic life. At times, he views the building of chateaux and the commission of great works of art from the Reanassance to the 19C as a reflection of the lack of wealth-generating investment opportunities during a time of economic revolution! And that is just a few of the issues covered. Each section of the book is like an essay on some basic economic notion. As such, the book assumes a great deal of historical knowledge in the reader, though Braudel often explains what he refers to briefly. For me, this added to its appeal and density, but it is often hard going. However, the book is leavened by wonderful and fascinating illustrations, which eases the task of getting through it at times. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: from lifestyle, to systems
Review: Historians, they say, are either lumpers or splitters: the former seek to make generalizations while the latter seek to refute and refine them. Braudel strikes a balance between these approaches, at one time examining the economic point of view (and related theoretical controversies, such as the ideas of Schumpeter on innovation), while searching for historical examples that support or obliterate them. He is a true master scholar. This volume adds to the first, moving from living standards to the establishment and functioning of trading and banking systems, both by capitalists (holders of sufficient resources to manipulate markets) and the merchants and craftsmen who operated within these markets. It is a crucial distinction that demonstrates how simple-minded the ideological argument of "free markets" can be: the rich can and do design economic systems to function to their advantage. You follow the development of international trading networks by Italians, Jews and Armenians; the evolution of banking and the handling of paper money; and even the influence of social hierarchies on economic growth. While Braudel concentrates almost exclusively on Europe in this volume, which lessens the universality of his approach, it is utterly fascinating from page one. The economic systems he analyses were somewhat incomplete, though evolving rapidly. An additional limit to his approach is the exclusive focus on econimic life. At times, he views the building of chateaux and the commission of great works of art from the Reanassance to the 19C as a reflection of the lack of wealth-generating investment opportunities during a time of economic revolution! And that is just a few of the issues covered. Each section of the book is like an essay on some basic economic notion. As such, the book assumes a great deal of historical knowledge in the reader, though Braudel often explains what he refers to briefly. For me, this added to its appeal and density, but it is often hard going. However, the book is leavened by wonderful and fascinating illustrations, which eases the task of getting through it at times. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I don't even LIKE history or economics...but I love this book.
In the course of researching some historical background for an English Lit paper, I ran across two of Braudel's books -- this was one of them.
It was so fascinating that I read the entire book (even though what I needed for the paper was a few pages); and then I went ahead and bought my own copy, plus others by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Topology of the market
Review: This is the second volume of Braudel¡¯s ¡®Civilization and Capitalism¡¯. The second volume deals with the market economy, while the first volume, ¡®Structures of Everyday Life¡¯ takes on infra-economy or material civilization. As I said on the review of the first volume, in the pre-industrialized societies, the market system is not the only form of resource allocation. The material civilization is the first layer of economy on the bottom, the market system is the second layer located above the first layer. The exchange or commerce was not natural economy but artificial economy in the jargon of the 18th C economics: Market is premised on the separation of production and consumption. Such a division is not natural, but is developed over long time. In this vein, the market is not natural at all. The market is the point in which material life and economic life meet each other. The market is the network. It links region to region, national economy to national economy. The form and scope of market has been evolved over time. When we track the forms of market, we could paint the history of capitalism. Nonetheless, Capitalism is often regarded as synonymous to market economy. But market is not unique to capitalism. But it goes without saying that capitalism can¡¯t exist without market. All economic activities under capitalism are carried out on the market. Changes in the form of market signals the changes of capitalism. When, for example, we talk about globalization, we have in mind the change of market based on national economy to global market. The second volume is about the topology of market. Based on the scope of space the market serves, we could trace out the path of capitalism since the 15th C. But market is not capitalism. To understand this point, you¡¯d better check the third volume, ¡®The Perspective of the World¡¯.
Rating:
Summary: Topology of the market
Review: This is the second volume of Braudel¡¯s ¡®Civilization and Capitalism¡¯. The second volume deals with the market economy, while the first volume, ¡®Structures of Everyday Life¡¯ takes on infra-economy or material civilization. As I said on the review of the first volume, in the pre-industrialized societies, the market system is not the only form of resource allocation. The material civilization is the first layer of economy on the bottom, the market system is the second layer located above the first layer. The exchange or commerce was not natural economy but artificial economy in the jargon of the 18th C economics: Market is premised on the separation of production and consumption. Such a division is not natural, but is developed over long time. In this vein, the market is not natural at all. The market is the point in which material life and economic life meet each other. The market is the network. It links region to region, national economy to national economy. The form and scope of market has been evolved over time. When we track the forms of market, we could paint the history of capitalism. Nonetheless, Capitalism is often regarded as synonymous to market economy. But market is not unique to capitalism. But it goes without saying that capitalism can¡¯t exist without market. All economic activities under capitalism are carried out on the market. Changes in the form of market signals the changes of capitalism. When, for example, we talk about globalization, we have in mind the change of market based on national economy to global market. The second volume is about the topology of market. Based on the scope of space the market serves, we could trace out the path of capitalism since the 15th C. But market is not capitalism. To understand this point, you¡¯d better check the third volume, ¡®The Perspective of the World¡¯.
Rating:
Summary: Rewards rereading
Review: This was the most interesting, to me, of Braudel's classic three-volume history of the age when vernacular culture first faced off against the predecessors of industrial culture. I dive into these books periodically and surface several hours later, having gone back in time.
Rating:
Summary: Rewards rereading
Review: This was the most interesting, to me, of Braudel's classic three-volume history of the age when vernacular culture first faced off against the predecessors of industrial culture. I dive into these books periodically and surface several hours later, having gone back in time.
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