The international financial crisis of 2007-08 and the ensuing scandals continue to raise
important debates about the role of institutions in maintaining trust and fighting corruption
as well as in sustaining economic growth and political stability in a globalized world. This
book proposes to historicize these problems by looking at the ways in which early-modern Europe
responded to similar challenges brought about by the rising costs of international warfare in a
period marked by the development of commercial capitalism and the rise of fiscal
states.Building upon the expertise of a group of fiscal historians who are leaders in their
respective fields ten chapters successively examine how Spain Britain France the Southern
Low Countries the Netherlands Sweden and Prussia dealt with domestic conflicts arising from
the business of war especially issues of financial profit fraud and corruption. Through a
series of case studies this volume explores how the various European polities engaged with the
transformative effects of warfare on the relationship between private and public interests
paving the way for institutional reforms and transformed ethics.
