What is the role of luxury in the genesis of capitalism? Is luxury capable of contributing to the development of capitalism and, if so, through what factors? While these questions were seriously debated in the 17th and 18th centuries, on every hand it was recognized that luxury was responsible for the development of economic forms which were then about to come into being. For this reason, all friends of economic “progress” were also ardent advocates of luxury. Their only cause for anxiety lay in the fear that an excessive consumption of luxury goods might jeopardize the accumulation of capital. To say that this chapter will prove the significance of increased luxury consumption for the development of capitalism means that I shall use the historico-empirical method in substantiating my claim as to the relationship between the two complex phenomena.
