Towards a theoretical framework for British and international economic history : early modern England a case study

It took 400 years to recognise and then analyse a class of social phenomena – the unintended results of historical development and individual action. This class includes language, law, the economic order, prices, money, morals, customs, skills, the division of labour, etc. They are complex formations, combining complex rules and particular historical circumstances; they manifest in people’s action and therefore the historical record. Analysts of such complex historical phenomena includes Coke, Hale, Mandeville, Hume, Smith, Burke, Sir William Jones, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Ferguson and Dugald Stewart. Menger, Mises and Hayek built on, systematised and extended what had been built up earlier. The capital structure is now added to this class; and the latter’s general features are set out using language, law, the catallaxy and the capital structure. The investment structure in early modern England is analysed and described as a case study.