Immanuel Wallerstein’s highly influential, multi-volume opus, The Modern World-System, is one of this century’s greatest works of social science. An innovative, panoramic reinterpretation of global history, it traces the emergence and development of the modern world from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. "However one casts up the balance-sheet on Wallerstein’s second volume, his effort commands respect and justifies interest in the volumes to follow." ― Society "An exciting and highly intelligent book. . . . The staggering pace at which Wallerstein moves over different levels of explanation, and skillfully combines them into his argument, deserves admiration."   ― History "In this age of high specialization, Wallerstein's ambitious but judicious synthesis will command the respect of any scholar who has tried to grapple with the peculiarly intractable problems of this period. . . . the book is shot through with shrewd and often stimulating comment." ― Journal of Modern History "However one casts up the balance-sheet on Wallerstein s second volume, his effort commands respect and justifies interest in the volumes to follow." W.W. Rostow, Society "An exciting and highly intelligent book...The staggering pace at which Wallerstein moves over different levels of explanation, and skillfully combines them into his argument, deserves admiration." Henry Kamen, History "In this age of high specialization, Wallerstein's ambitious but judicious synthesis will command the respect of any scholar who has tried to grapple with the peculiarly intractable problems of this period.:...the book is shot through with shrewd and often stimulating comment." Charles Wilson, Journal of Modern History   Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019) was Senior Research Scholar at Yale University and the former President of the International Sociological Association. He was the author of many books, including The Modern World-System, Volumes I-IV . The Modern World-System II Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy 1600–1750 By Immanuel Wallerstein UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Copyright © 2011 The Regents of the University of California All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-520-26758-9 Contents List of Illustrations, ix, Acknowledgments, xi, Prologue to the 2011 Edition, xiii, INTRODUCTION: CRISIS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY?, 2, 1. THE B-PHASE, 12, 2. DUTCH HEGEMONY IN THE WORLD ECONOMY, 36, 3. STRUGGLE IN THE CORE—PHASE I! 1651–1689, 74, 4. PERIPHERIES IN AN ERA OF SLOW GROWTH, 128, 5. SEMIPHERIPHERIES AT THE CROSSROADS, 178, 6. STRUGGLE IN THE CORE—PHASE II: 1689–1763, 244, Bibliography, 290, Index, 350, CHAPTER 1 THE B-PHASE For Slicher van Bath, the fundamental distinguishing characteristic of the periods of agricultural expansion and contraction in Europe since the Carolingian era is the rise and fall in the price of cereals, vis-à-vis other merchandise and wages. It was a question of favorable or unfavorable terms of trade for cereals. He sees a contraction, meaning unfavorable terms of trade, for cereals in the period from 1600 (or 1650) to 1750. It is important to underline this definition of contraction, because the relative decline of the price of wheat in Slicher van Bath's belief, is far more important than its absolute decline. Side by side with a shift in the terms of trade (avoiding, for the moment, all suggestion of causal sequence) is what K. Glamann calls a turning point around 1650 in "the great east–west grain trade," apparently occurring because "southern and western Europe [seemed] to have become more self-sufficient in grain." This self-sufficiency is attributed to an "increased production of foodstuffs in western Europe during the second half of the seventeenth century, coinciding with a general stagnation of population," resulting presumably in oversupply. However, Glamann also notes that at this same time "Europe was glutted with pepper." But how can oversupply be suggested when the problem of the times was presumably too little food? Schöffer speaks of "permanent, sometimes latent, structural phenomena" existing in Europe "from the disasters of the fourteenth century until far into the eighteenth century," primarily "the continuous tension between food production and food distribution on the one hand and the population's food requirements on the other." The result was "a situation where malnutrition was endemic, hunger often epidemic." Domenico Sella sees the well-being of the early modern period as dependent "on whether food supplies kept pace with population," yet others speak of production rising faster than population. Clearly we have an anomaly that can only be resolved with a clearer notion of the sequence of events. Let us see first what other events occurred. Certain agronomic shifts are reported for the seventeenth century: the process of land reclamation was at least slowed down, probably stopped, possib