Search Results

Opportunity in an Age of Folly: The Bubble of 1720 in the Dutch Republic

Henk Looijesteijn

in Comedy and Crisis: Pieter Langendijk, the Dutch, and the Speculative Bubbles of 1720

1720 is remembered in European history as the year of folly, when the financial markets ballooned and then collapsed in the capitals of England and France. The financial crisis was of great import to ... More

1720 is remembered in European history as the year of folly, when the financial markets ballooned and then collapsed in the capitals of England and France. The financial crisis was of great import to the subsequent history of both countries: England emerged from the crisis on the way to becoming an international financial powerhouse, whereas France failed to modernize its financial infrastructure, which collapsed during the French Revolution. Much less is known, however, outside the Netherlands about the third economy involved in the Bubble, namely, the proto-capitalist economy of the Dutch Republic. This chapter makes the case that the Dutch financial economy, which in 1720 was more advanced than that of its neighbours, bore the brunt of the crisis much better than they. The Bubble in the Dutch Republic channelled some of the country’s previously underused capital reserves back into the economy and allowed for the rise of a number of municipal Bubble companies, chiefly devoted to shipping and insurance. Several of these survived the Bubble and developed into bona fide businesses with surprising longevity. The foremost example of this is the Rotterdam insurance company which lasted until the twenty-first century and continues to exist as a philanthropic foundation.Less

Wait for the West Wind

Ben Finney

in Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey through Polynesia

This chapter addresses the third basic adaptation for oceanic expansion by analyzing how, in 1986, Hōkūle'a sailed eastward across Polynesia from Samoa to Tahiti by utilizing westerly wind shifts. In ... More

This chapter addresses the third basic adaptation for oceanic expansion by analyzing how, in 1986, Hōkūle'a sailed eastward across Polynesia from Samoa to Tahiti by utilizing westerly wind shifts. In making his case for the origin in America of the Polynesians, Thor Heyerdahl claimed that the islands of Polynesia could not have been colonized directly from the west because “the permanent trade winds and forceful companion currents of the enormous Southern Hemisphere” would have prevented canoe sailors from the Asian side of the ocean from sailing through tropical latitudes to the east. Instrumented sailing trials with the Hawai'ian double canoe Nālehia, and the long slant across and slightly into the trade winds made by Hōkūle'a when sailing from Hawai'i to Tahiti in 1976, indicate that a double canoe progresses most efficiently to windward when she is sailed “full and by.”Less

Voyage to Aotearoa

Ben Finney

in Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey through Polynesia

This chapter is a sailing chronicle designed to illuminate the main problem that canoe voyagers leaving any of the islands of central East Polynesia would have faced in voyaging to Aotearoa: that of ... More

This chapter is a sailing chronicle designed to illuminate the main problem that canoe voyagers leaving any of the islands of central East Polynesia would have faced in voyaging to Aotearoa: that of sailing a canoe southwest out of the easterly trade wind zone and into a region where strong westerlies often blow. The chapter therefore concentrates on the most difficult portion of the route, that from Rarotonga to Aotearoa, along which a canoe must forsake the warm seas and favorable trade winds of the tropics for the increasingly chill waters and problematic winds of the higher latitudes. In preparing for the voyage, Nainoa Thompson consulted accounts of how voyagers had supposedly navigated to Aotearoa following directions brought back to the traditional homeland of Hawaiki by Kupe, the legendary discoverer of Aotearoa.Less

Quincampoix, or the Wind Traders: A Comedy as Performed at the Amsterdam Theatre [Amsterdamschen Schouwburg]

Joyce Goggin, Merlijn Erken, Frans De Bruyn, Henk Looijesteijn, Helen J. Paul, and Lodewijk Petram

in Comedy and Crisis: Pieter Langendijk, the Dutch, and the Speculative Bubbles of 1720

This full-length tragicomedy in three acts explores the thematic opposition between traditional Dutch commercial and republican virtue, and the speculative corruption of 1720. Set in Amsterdam at the ... More

This full-length tragicomedy in three acts explores the thematic opposition between traditional Dutch commercial and republican virtue, and the speculative corruption of 1720. Set in Amsterdam at the height of the “wind trade” that inflated the South Sea and Mississippi Bubbles, as well as local Dutch speculative bubbles, the play dramatizes both market mania and intergenerational conflict between parent and child, with a predictable victory for the younger generation. In this instance, Hillegond, daughter of the merchant Bonaventure, loves a sensible, virtuous young man named Hendrik, but she is also pursued by Windbag, a pompous, self-important speculator in bubble shares. Windbag is a French popinjay blown ashore from Paris and London by the shifting winds of speculation. Bonaventure is dazzled by Windbag’s fortune and is drawn into the speculative activity, but his brother, Noble-Heart, prefers Hendrik, who personifies the native steadfastness of the Dutch character. Hendrik’s name recalls the wise Prince Frederik Hendrik (a ruler associated with proclamations opposing uncontrolled speculation). At the close of the play Bonaventure faces the prospect of financial ruin, but he is rescued from his own imprudence by his brother, who buys back the “futures” contracts that had threatened to undo him. Noble-Heart counts the cost of this financial rescue as a trifle compared to the value of preserving the family’s honour and its credit or reputation.Less

Trades

Tim Woollings

in Jet Stream: A Journey Through our Changing Climate

This chapter focuses on understanding the trade winds in the tropical Atlantic. A historical approach is taken, starting from ancient Greek and Chinese theories of wind and then discussing various ... More

This chapter focuses on understanding the trade winds in the tropical Atlantic. A historical approach is taken, starting from ancient Greek and Chinese theories of wind and then discussing various later theories proposed after European exploration of the Atlantic brought the trade winds into focus. The essentially correct description was provided by George Hadley in 1735, based on the concept of momentum conservation. This chapter hence introduces crucial effects of Earth’s rotation on the atmosphere and provides an overview of tropical Atlantic wind patterns.Less

Harlequin Stock-Jobber

Joyce Goggin, Merlijn Erken, Frans De Bruyn, Henk Looijesteijn, Helen J. Paul, and Lodewijk Petram

in Comedy and Crisis: Pieter Langendijk, the Dutch, and the Speculative Bubbles of 1720

This short comic harlequinade is written in the rich and enormously popular theatrical tradition of the Italian commedia dell’arte, imported into the Netherlands via France. Langendijk borrows a ... More

This short comic harlequinade is written in the rich and enormously popular theatrical tradition of the Italian commedia dell’arte, imported into the Netherlands via France. Langendijk borrows a range of well-known commedia character types to populate his farce. In a series of twelve scenes he tells the story of Capitano. who plans a voyage to the South Sea (the Mississippi country) to trade in shares. Harlequin, himself a speculator in shares, undertakes to sell Capitano provisions for his voyage. When Capitano discovers that the provisions Harlequin has sold him are nothing but wind-filled bladders and animal guts, a battle ensues between two squadrons armed with inflated pig’s bladders. The cowardly Capitano faints from shock, and Harlequin is taken captive but is set free when he promises to bequeath his paper shares to his captors. The play concludes with Harlequin auctioning off a candle stub, which is handed back and forth between the characters until Gilles, who buys the candle, burns his fingers and drops the stub on a pile of shares that go up flames. The foolish investors are left with nothing, an ending that provides a comic warning to those who risk being burnt by the bubble craze.Less

The Path to Hot Towers

James Rodger Fleming

in First Woman: Joanne Simpson and the Tropical Atmosphere

In collaboration with Herbert Riehl, Joanne developed her signature “hot tower” hypothesis of convection, demonstrating that clouds are the spark plugs of Earth’s general circulation.