The latest issue of TSEG, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geschiedenis (vol 9 no 2), presents research articles on Film Distribution in Ghent, Belgium, and on Luxury Product Consumption in 18th century Cape Colony.
The latter paper by Johan Fourie and Jolandi Uys ascertains the nature, growth and distribution of luxury good ownership in the Cape Colony. The survey reveals a marginal increase over the course of the eighteenth century in household ownership.
The evidence presented suggests that even the poorest had access to the most basic luxuries. In fact, comparisons with European and North American regions suggest that the Cape settlers were often more affluent, refuting the notion that the Cape Colony was an 'economic and social backwater', and confirming that it was at least partially integrated into the 'consumer revolution of Western Europe.
Furthermore, the text of professor Wantje Fritschy's farewell-lecture (27 January 2012) is published: 'Public Debts in comparative perspective: the Union of the Seven United Provinces and and the European Union'. Fritschy combines the results of her decadal research on public finance in the Dutch Republic and links it to the current debate on the European debt crisis.
http://socialhistory.org/en/news/cape-colony-relatively-affluent