Product Description

Enterprising Slaves & Master Pirates is an interdisciplinary account of economic life in the Bahamas. The Bahamas' economic story is an interesting tale, full of vibrant color-a story of short-lived booms followed by protracted busts, where discussions of economic success force us to mention fanciful figures such as the pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack, and where accounts of economic woe, such as the collapse of the cotton market, are punctuated by descriptions of the clamor of Sunday markets or the unique practice of self-hire. Since the almost simultaneous settling of the Bahamas by pirates and Puritan farmers in the 17th century, two ideal typical entrepreneurs have dominated the region's economic life: the enterprising slave (encouraging Bahamian businessmen to work hard, to be creative and to be productive) and the master pirate (demonstrating how success is more easily attained through cunning and deception). In addition to Caribbean Studies scholars, this book will appeal to students of culture interested in economic development, and economists interested in how culture impacts development efforts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2596071 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 156 pages

Customer Reviews

How Culture and her Institutions Matter!
Does culture matter for the economic and social development of a nation?

V. Storr certainly believes it does. And in his "Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates," he places culture as the most important factor in this contribution to the understanding of economic life in the Bahamas.

Contra most economists, Storr provides readers with a "thick description" of Bahamian economic life instead of the vogue - and ersatz - "thin" interpretation of "econometrics," or the method most historians have done away with "cliometrics." Storr sets the stage for his "thick description" by speaking to the work of Ludwig von Mises and Max Weber. These intellectual lions, and Storr, aver that practitioners of the social sciences ought not to ape the methods of the natural sciences due to the social sciences being causal-interpretive. And hence, the social sciences should be focused on meaning (verstehen), not naive correlation.

In this work, Storr develops Kirznerian entrepreneurship by calling attention to a few ideal-typical attributes of the successful entrepreneur: Awareness and Discovery. In so doing, Storr makes known that while entrepreneurs are omnipresent, the numerous and varied opportunities open to them are circumscribed by culture. Moreover, and perhaps unwittingly, Storr provides insight into why the descendants of Bahamian "enterprising slaves" and "master pirates" outperform blacks born and raised in the United States.

This is an excellent work. The price is very high, but if you enjoy Weberian/Misean socio-economics, Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates is a must own!