ABSTRACT
The construction of an efficient state that took a proactive role in the economy was an obligatory step towards growth. Between 1500 and 1800, the international economy was marked by a competition that left little space for free trade. The improved tools of economic policy involved a long-term learning process that brought successes and failures. Following a long period of “institutional learning” to act more effectively, the states definitely played a decisive role in the formation of the various economic structures, and policies with typically mercantilist objectives were responsible for the introduction of many industries and technical skills. Historians have attributed the divergence of the European economy as a whole to a series of peculiarities that distinguish the continent from the world’s other macro-regions. Maritime and economic expansion was vital for England and more closely connected with security.
