About

This blog is written by Lodewijk Petram. I am a Dutch historian and economist. I have a PhD in economic history with a thesis (2011) on the development of the market for shares in the Dutch East India Company—the world’s first stock exchange. My narrative history on the same subject is available in English, Dutch, Chinese, Korean and Greek. It was awarded the Dirk Jacob Veegens Prize by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. 

Besides The world’s first stock exchange, I authored a book on the Dutch banking crisis of the early 1920s and co-authored ones about ‘ordinary’ people from Amsterdam through the ages and about the Dutch who fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). More information on these books can be found on my personal website (in Dutch). I am currently working on a new book project about the lives and careers of sailors on Dutch merchant marine ships, 1600-present. More information about this project can be found on this website.

I enjoy giving talks (about stock exchange history and the tulip madness, among many other subjects) and guided city walks through the historic financial center of Amsterdam. Following in the footsteps of the world’s first stock traders, I show the locations where in the early 17th century the first company shares changed hands and explain how the merchants of Amsterdam laid the foundation for a period of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity of their beautiful city.

For more information about a lecture and / or a city walk, or for other questions and comments, please fill in the contact form.