Contens: Introduction: the legacy of the past -- The Ancients and inner wealth -- Patrictics: end of the contempt for wealth and labour -- Medieval dualism: poverty as an ideal; wealth as a practical goal -- Italian humanism ignores economic development -- From alms to human capital: the poor in sixteenth centruy Spain and England -- Spain's unproductive consumption -- Expanding production: a (fearful) hunger for goods -- Productive and unproductive labour -- Foreign trade: fostering productive consumption/ productive labour --The Enlightenment theory of development: consumption as a investment.