Per tre generazioni Amsterdam fu il centro della vita economica del mondo occidentale, e la maggior parte di questo potere era nelle mani delle ricche famiglie di Amsterdam come i Cocqs Banning e i De Graeffs, i Tulps e i Sixes, ###>Amsterdam for three generations was the center of the economic life of the Western World, and most of that power was in the hands of the wealthy Amsterdam families with the likes of the Banning Cocqs and the De Graeffs