Burn the Gondolas? Venice, the Ghetto, and the Seasons of Capitalism

This case uses the history of Venice—from the driving of the first pylons in the lagoon to the abdication of the city’s last doge, across the ages of Marco Polo and Vivaldi—to explore the invention and global diffusion of capitalism, as well as the cyclical rise and decline of capitalist powers. It traces Venice’s transformation from a medieval commercial hub and capitalist innovator to a declining maritime empire eclipsed by emergent powers like England. The creation of the Jewish Ghetto in 1516 serves as a focal point for examining how exclusion and containment, especially antisemitism, shaped the city’s social and economic life and capitalism’s broader history. Beginning with the controversial 2024 day-entry tax for tourists, the case also interrogates the commodification of place, memory, and cultural heritage in a city many now see as more open-air museum than living metropolis. Ultimately, the case asks what it means to live amid the spectacular ruins of past economic triumphs, a question that awaits all of today’s rich nations.