Before the nationalization of Europe, the economy was more primitive and less fixed and constructed. When international trade occurred, there were merchants who would engage in trade, but that trade was not nearly as fixed as it is today because of widely published prices and money conversions. With the stock market came a new level of construction, but Polanyi believes the constructs will eventually fail as the imbalances reach a head.
This book is no doubt influenced by the horrors of the Great Depression, since the point of view offered is obviously diagnostic. The point of view is pessimistic and urgent, seeking to reassess changes in the way of human life that went nearly unscrutinized as they unfolded. Instead of just trying to figure out what could be fixed in the economy to prevent major collapse in the future, Polanyi suggests that the seeds of destruction were sown into the assumptions that underlay the current economy.
There is an interesting dilemma in his point of view between abstract constructs and the reality of human nature. Once a human understands their economy, he notices that it seems self-explanatory, but actually, the truth about human nature comes from the animal body and the primal ways of life. That's his argument, anyway. He traces this dilemma back to the past, alleging that the pivot-point of history came when one caste began becoming wealthy by renting property to a caste that has been handing them money ever since.
