Disembedding the Marketplace

Chapter 5 examines the creation of the classic free port, which taxed only for commercial services. The latter half of the seventeenth century inaugurated an age of conscious experimentation in economic policy. Amidst intensified commercial competition throughout the central Mediterranean, the Medici regime launched a panel of interventions aimed at improving the grand duchy’s economic position. For Livorno, this program culminated in the reform of 1676, which eliminated import/export duties and simplified collection procedures. This reform constituted an important moment in the development of commodity markets and secured Livorno’s role in brokering trade between northwestern Europe, Italy, and the Levant.