[2] The content of the text covered lecture notes taken from 1919 to 1920 when he taught economic and social history (Abriss der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte).
[2] In the General Economic History, Weber also developed an institutional theory of the rise of capitalism in the West.
Unlike in his earlier work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, religion is given a minor role.
The emphasis of the work lies instead on the place of the state and calculable law in allowing economic actors to predict exchange for gain.
He also refuted claims by thinkers such as Werner Sombart, who held that the Jews were responsible for the rise of Western capitalism.