In Carriers of Growth? Ann Coenen sheds new light on the vigorous debate about international trade and economic development in the Early Modern Period. The Austrian Netherlands offer an intriguing case that challenges ruling opinions within the largely Anglo-Saxon literature.By focusing on a number of key trade sectors (salt, textiles, colonial commodities, coal and grain) Ann Coenen exposes the various effects of trade and trade policy throughout all layers of the eighteenth-century society.