Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Figures and tables ix
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. Chapter 1. Introduction: risk and uncertainty 1
6. Chapter 2. Staying informed: the risks of poor information in Atlantic world trade 17
7. Chapter 3. The institutions of trade and the reduction of market risk: the convoy system 43
8. Chapter 4. Comercio libre and the rise of commercial risk 69
9. Chapter 5. The rising demand for credit and the escalation of risk in the post-1778 era 110
10. Chapter 6. Trade in war and peace 146
11. Chapter 7. Underwriting risk: the structure and organization of insurance partnerships in late eighteenth- century Cadiz 179
12. Chapter 8. Insuring against risk: analysis of insurance policies and the perception of risk in Atlantic world trade 205
13. Chapter 9. War and commercial crisis: the profitability of the Cadiz insurance industry in the 1790s 256
14. Chapter 10. Conclusion: staying afloat 274
15. Notes 283
16. Bibliography 363
17. Index 381
18. Social science history 394