Capitalism as Calculus: An Archaeology

Computing plays a formidable role in the development of capitalism. It enables traders to see eye to eye, fulfilling a vital intermediation function. A little-understood consequence is that historically, financial products were designed in ways that rendered them computable. Building on this insight, the paper articulates a phenomenology of capitalism as computable order. Focusing on England during the critical period 1680–1880 when financial capitalism became entrenched, we uncover a succession of computing regimes. The propagation of a universal benchmark and the design of powerful computing technologies delivered long-term efficiency gains. Diversity was secured by designing computable derivatives of the benchmark. By demonstrating a broad dependence of scientific breakthroughs on changing financial market structures and vice versa, this paper pieces together a novel picture of the long-term development of capital as calculus.