This book brings together the results of fresh scholarly research to present a unique overview of the financial history of the Netherlands from the sixteenth century onwards. The Netherlands has always occupied a role in international finance way out of proportion with its geographical size. Since the eighteenth century, the country has been one of the largest exporters of capital in the world. In addition, several important financial innovations were pioneered in the Netherlands, such as a funded public debt, the famous Amsterdam Wisselbank, large public limited companies with transferable shares, and securitized international loans. The book shows the evolution of the Dutch financial system during nearly four and a half centuries, detailing the close interrelationship between currency policy, public finance, and banking.

"The detail of this volume offers much insight to the specialist reader on a banking structure rather different from most European and American systems." J. Murdock, Choice