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Mother of Capital: How Rent Gave Birth to Modernity
Rent, or unearned income, is a pervasive concept in contemporary economics. Economists of all stripes see today's global economy as riddled with harmful rents, but most deny these are intrinsic to capitalism, and insist they can be eliminated with the right policies. It begs the question, why is rent theory so critical of the present but so optimistic about the future?
In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centring rent as the engine of capitalism's historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.
Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.
In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centring rent as the engine of capitalism's historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.
Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.
320 pages, Paperback
Published December 20, 2025
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December 25, 2025
In a startling confrontation of historical conceptions, Matthew Costa weaves a masterful depiction of capitalism’s origins and the ideas that followed in its wake, all perpetuating the echoes of its titular “Mother,” tributary rent.
As a first work from Costa, “Mother of Capital” was an enlightening and engaging read. While dealing with various complex topics of historiography and social theory, Costa did an excellent job of keeping the reader, regardless of their prior knowledge, informed of the concepts he introduced. Clear definitions rooted in intellectual histories established foundations which Costa followed forward. These guided dual timelines of the development of capitalism from tributary relations, against the ideas used to either defend or critique these systems in evolution. The result was a unique perspective on history, alongside a deeply humanizing exploration of ideological responses that often go overlooked. All this, in a package that was structured well to keep the text accessible and easy to follow.
The ideas themselves presented by Costa were in equal measures radical and well founded. In presenting his theory of “endogenous transformation of social property relations,” Costa confronted old narratives about capitalism head on, and clearly justified his ideas with not only logic and evidence, but furthermore clear ideological precedent. In an age of progressive voices floundering between calls for incremental policies or unlikely revolutions, identifying a true core to societal change that flows instead through internal logic opens concrete potentialities for alternative strategy and scholarship. Much of this is subsequently shown in the Critical Social Theorists he uncovers, yet without closing the door to further ideation.
Considering downsides, the only ones that come to mind are debatable or explicitly addressed by the text. The Anglo-centric focus perhaps excluded room for exploring parallel developments in the Low Countries, yet was a fair and explicit choice. Minimal focus on urban developments that spurred on capitalism was fair considering the justified centrality of proletarianisation amongst agrarian renters. As for factual inaccuracies, the only one I spotted (urban population sizes in England c. 1800) just resulted from outdated source work (more recent findings can be seen in “Cambridge History of Capitalism” or Williamson’s “Coping with City Growth”), and was overall very minor. Any imperfections were easily outweighed by Costa’s informed and comprehensive engagement with tributary and capitalist rent.
Altogether, “Mother of Capital” is an impressive first entry from Matthew Costa, showing his strength as an economic historian and rent theorist. Reading it was a pleasurable academic excursion, dispelling myths and bringing rent front and center to the discussion of capitalism. This book will be easy to recommend with glowing praise to anyone interested in how society became what it is today, and by what means, if any, we may be able to fix it.
As a first work from Costa, “Mother of Capital” was an enlightening and engaging read. While dealing with various complex topics of historiography and social theory, Costa did an excellent job of keeping the reader, regardless of their prior knowledge, informed of the concepts he introduced. Clear definitions rooted in intellectual histories established foundations which Costa followed forward. These guided dual timelines of the development of capitalism from tributary relations, against the ideas used to either defend or critique these systems in evolution. The result was a unique perspective on history, alongside a deeply humanizing exploration of ideological responses that often go overlooked. All this, in a package that was structured well to keep the text accessible and easy to follow.
The ideas themselves presented by Costa were in equal measures radical and well founded. In presenting his theory of “endogenous transformation of social property relations,” Costa confronted old narratives about capitalism head on, and clearly justified his ideas with not only logic and evidence, but furthermore clear ideological precedent. In an age of progressive voices floundering between calls for incremental policies or unlikely revolutions, identifying a true core to societal change that flows instead through internal logic opens concrete potentialities for alternative strategy and scholarship. Much of this is subsequently shown in the Critical Social Theorists he uncovers, yet without closing the door to further ideation.
Considering downsides, the only ones that come to mind are debatable or explicitly addressed by the text. The Anglo-centric focus perhaps excluded room for exploring parallel developments in the Low Countries, yet was a fair and explicit choice. Minimal focus on urban developments that spurred on capitalism was fair considering the justified centrality of proletarianisation amongst agrarian renters. As for factual inaccuracies, the only one I spotted (urban population sizes in England c. 1800) just resulted from outdated source work (more recent findings can be seen in “Cambridge History of Capitalism” or Williamson’s “Coping with City Growth”), and was overall very minor. Any imperfections were easily outweighed by Costa’s informed and comprehensive engagement with tributary and capitalist rent.
Altogether, “Mother of Capital” is an impressive first entry from Matthew Costa, showing his strength as an economic historian and rent theorist. Reading it was a pleasurable academic excursion, dispelling myths and bringing rent front and center to the discussion of capitalism. This book will be easy to recommend with glowing praise to anyone interested in how society became what it is today, and by what means, if any, we may be able to fix it.
February 14, 2026
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, because of the learning curve involved
The Publisher Says: Rent, or unearned income, is a pervasive concept in contemporary economics. Economists of all stripes see today’s global economy as riddled with harmful rents, but most deny these are intrinsic to capitalism, and insist they can be eliminated with the right policies. It begs the question, why is rent theory so critical of the present but so optimistic about the future?
In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centering rent as the engine of capitalism’s historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.
Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.
Matthew Costa is an Australian political economist. He has been a sessional lecturer and honorary associate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. He is currently a Director at New South Wales Treasury, and was previously an economic policy advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: If you're willing to put in the work, this is a good way to understand how capitalism got organized around the concept of extraction. Author Costa is an academic. It shows. You'll need your dictionary handy. The concepts he's explaining in these sophisticated words are, once you've familiarized yourself with the vocabulary, strikingly simple to assimilate. The end result of the read is to make available to the reader a different, probably new, angle of viewing and interpreting the modern world.
Ideological principles that go unchallenged in spite of their deleterious effects on humanity appear in stark relief when this angle of viewing is assumed. It is an angle I encourage you to investigate for yourself...don't trust me, or anyone else, to give you from On High the One True Vision of the world. Acquire a bit of knowledge from a lot of sources. This source is one whose angle of view you won't find in the huge mass of economic-discussion sources in the mainstream. Once you get your head around the light this book sheds on the system we all live within, you will understand why.
It's worth making the effort. It *is* an effort. I encourage you to fight the innerer Schweinehund, get off your mental pillow, and learn something new as painlessly as is possible. The value of the perspective this book offers you on the world as it is can't be overstated.
The Publisher Says: Rent, or unearned income, is a pervasive concept in contemporary economics. Economists of all stripes see today’s global economy as riddled with harmful rents, but most deny these are intrinsic to capitalism, and insist they can be eliminated with the right policies. It begs the question, why is rent theory so critical of the present but so optimistic about the future?
In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centering rent as the engine of capitalism’s historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.
Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.
Matthew Costa is an Australian political economist. He has been a sessional lecturer and honorary associate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. He is currently a Director at New South Wales Treasury, and was previously an economic policy advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: If you're willing to put in the work, this is a good way to understand how capitalism got organized around the concept of extraction. Author Costa is an academic. It shows. You'll need your dictionary handy. The concepts he's explaining in these sophisticated words are, once you've familiarized yourself with the vocabulary, strikingly simple to assimilate. The end result of the read is to make available to the reader a different, probably new, angle of viewing and interpreting the modern world.
Ideological principles that go unchallenged in spite of their deleterious effects on humanity appear in stark relief when this angle of viewing is assumed. It is an angle I encourage you to investigate for yourself...don't trust me, or anyone else, to give you from On High the One True Vision of the world. Acquire a bit of knowledge from a lot of sources. This source is one whose angle of view you won't find in the huge mass of economic-discussion sources in the mainstream. Once you get your head around the light this book sheds on the system we all live within, you will understand why.
It's worth making the effort. It *is* an effort. I encourage you to fight the innerer Schweinehund, get off your mental pillow, and learn something new as painlessly as is possible. The value of the perspective this book offers you on the world as it is can't be overstated.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews