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Originally posted by Adam Smith
The increased demand for wool came from commoners, not Spanish noblemen.
The increased demand for wool came from commoners, not Spanish noblemen.
Define common. I doubt English peasants made up the bulk of the market for woolen goods. My understanding is the primary market for British wool were the low countries, who turned them into clothing. (And I'm totally forgetting about the English cottage industry.) And while its definately true that this had been going on well before the introduction of Spanish silver into the mix, it really takes off after this point. That silver doesn't just stay in the hands of Spanish nobles, but finds its way into the hands of the middle classes, who can then begin buying goods themselves.
Furthermore, the availablity of Spanish silver produces a disaster for the peasantry of Europe (and England). Inflation begins, and in England the enclosures begin. One of the reasons there are so many mercenaries available in this period is the number of homeless peasants. This is also the period when vagrancy becomes a crime.
Slave owners will buy slaves up to the point where the amount of work they expect to gain is equal to the amount paid.
While I agree that the slaver traders profitted the most, slaver purchasers had to have some understanding of simple economics. You purchased slaves for the same reason you hire workers. Yes, there were vanity slaves who worked the houses, etc. But the most important sector of slavery were those slaves who were used inthe plantation system, and those purchasers bought slaves with a mind to making a profit. But off the top of my head I can't remember the percentage of slaves in the plantation system in the US versus simple work hands.
Most capital was provided by European banks.
Yes, but England was our largest creditor. By far and away the most important source of capital for American industry.
Slavery had relatively little effect on long term capital accumulation. Much of that capital was destroyed in the Civil War.
In the South, yes. And the South hasn't recovered from the Civil War yet. But the money they earned was invested in Northern and English banks, and that capital survived the war.
Then why were real incomes (ie adjusted for inflation) rising?
Uhm . . . let me get back to you on that.
He's also a knowledgable and articulate debater, and we don't want to scare him off with rudeness.
True capitalists were also abolishionists. Adam Smith (the Scottish one 
) was a major proponent for abolishing slavery. People should be free to contract for services. The idea that slaves are merely property flys in the face of Capitalism's theorists. There is a reason that Liberalism (in the classical sense) created capitalism.
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