This article seeks to assess the influential model of the Old Colonial System, originally put forth by Fernando Novais. The three elements that make up the model - namely, metropolitan exclusivism, "superprofits", and the latter's role in European industrialization during the Early Modern period - are criticized. In the end, the article concludes that the model is, essentially, axiomatic, bearing scant adherence to either economic theory or empirical evidence.
Brazil; Old Colonial System; superprofits; Anglo-Portuguese relations; European industrialization