Reichtum als Gefahr in der Handelsrepublik: Ökonomischer Patriotismus in der niederländischen Aufklärung

The article examines how Dutch economic patriots perceived wealth in the late 18^th century. While commerce, public debt and wealth were critically viewed in Britain and France, the research consensus shows that they were largely accepted in the Dutch Republic. This article shows, however, that the Dutch did take part in the international debate about modern wealth, but that they did so from the perspective of a commercial republic in decline. The economic patriots explained this perceived decline with the wealth of the inhabitants who had withdrawn from active business in order to live as rentiers on their investments in foreign national debt. In order to resolve this tension, the members of the economic branch designeda subsidiary of the Dutch Society of Sciences, a far-reaching moral and economic reform program designed to make the private wealth of citizens useful for the common good.