Varieties of Mercantilism: Simone Luzzatto and the Economic Role of the Jews in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
In: Simone Luzzatto’s Scepticism in the Context of Early Modern ThoughtSearch for other papers by Luca Andreoni in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This chapter intends to give a comparative insight into some of the economic concepts expressed by the Venetian rabbi Simone Luzzatto (ca. 1583–1663) in his Discourse. The aim is to emphasise some distinctive traits in Luzzatto’s elaborations on economic matters, with specific reference to the key role that the Jews played in mercantile activities. In order to carry out this investigation, this chapter provides a comparative analysis of the works of some writers who were geographically, chronologically, and conceptually quite distant from Luzzatto (Giovanni Botero, Antonio Serra, and Thomas Mun). In Luzzatto’s Discourse, the social aspect seems to be central: mercantile dynamics are guided by cultural arrangements. To obtain a better idea of this approach, we shall consider the different concepts regarding geographical space, then we shall move to an analysis of the role of foreign trade and discuss how trade in general functioned in order to determine its influence on a state’s economic position. In conclusion, we shall see how Luzzatto’s considerations cannot be easily framed within a single paradigm.