In the seventeenth century, English economic theorists lost interest in the moral status of exchange and became increasingly concerned with the roots of national prosperity. Emily Erikson brings together historical, comparative, and computational methods to explain the institutional forces that brought about this transformation.
The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the British East India Company's impact on capitalism and imperial expansion. It challenges traditional views linking British imperialism to capitalism, employing a rigorous, multilevel approach. Additionally, it showcases the effectiveness of network analysis in understanding information diffusion, while also considering the significance of context, locality, and culture. This work stands out as both a critical historical study and a significant contribution to sociological analysis.