Friday, December 14, 2007

Capital Formation and the Slave Trade

When people refer to a 'third world debt' what is forgotten is how much was stolen and then never repaid, so that a correct balance sheet would indicate a debit rather than a credit.


The hidden holocaust ...
"University of Essex sociologist Robin Blackburn has demonstrated convincingly the centrality of capitalism to the growth of new world slavery, arguing that the profits of slavery accumulated in the “triangular trade” between Europe, Africa and America contributed fundamentally to Britain’s industrialization. For instance, the profits from triangular trade for 1770 would have provided from 20.9 to 55 per cent of Britain’s gross fixed capital formation. [Robin Blackburn, The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (London: Verso), p. 572.]"