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Shifting Capital

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Abstract

This chapter assesses the outcomes of the Union from the articles. It examines the trade advantages Scotland gained, the Equivalent, and the temporary exemptions from certain taxes. However, it draws attention to what was given up in exchange: the Scottish Parliament, the capital, and the Company of Scotland. In gaining a permanent majority in parliament, the closure of the East India Company’s rival, and another source of capital and debt service, the chapter argues that England emerged the true winner of the positive surplus battle, from a mercantilist perspective. It examines the different forms of capital that were at stake in the Union decision, physical and financial, and concludes with a discussion of how Scotland’s human capital remained intact due to its social institutions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The development and importance of the university system, the legal profession, and other cultural factors are explored in more depth in Ramos and Mirowski (2011), Emerson (1995), Allan (1993), and Clive (1970). An exploration of the religious aspect of the Union debates and the role of the Kirk in Scottish society is in Stephen (2007).

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Ramos, A. (2018). Shifting Capital. In: Shifting Capital. Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96403-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96403-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96402-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96403-4

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