ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the capitalism literature. Liberal market economies (LMEs) have been characterized as having less employment protection, greater mobility of labour and changing of jobs, and an emphasis on the general and portable skills that people carry with them between different firms. The book suggests the importance of private orderings of maritime property rights, which were significant in the building up of commercial roots in Britain through the chartering of companies, through privateering and letters of marque, and through the symbiotic relationship between the growth of the fiscal capacity of the British state and its naval capacity. One difference between England and the United States has been the role that race has played in their development. The other main theme of the book is to pick up the institutionalist theme of 'institutions matter' for economic development.
