Someone told me around 1987 that the term Dutch book had been invented when Dutch insurance companies for ships in the 19th century would organize and combine insurances in such a way as to make money whatever contingency occurred. When I later asked the person for references or evidence otherwise he did not know.
The English language has several negative expressions using the term Dutch, such as Dutch uncle, Dutch treat, etc. This terminology seems to date from the 17th century, when Holland and England had powerful and rivalry fleets. The term Dutch book is in line with this tradition.
I heard it say that Dutch book is a common term in horse racing and
possibly it was taken from there. Lehman, R. (1955) writes that the term is
known among professional bettors.
I never investigated this possibility but
it seems to be a plausible origin, in agreement with the linguistic tradition
just mentioned. In horse racing, “making a book” means setting the betting
odds and the “bookmaker” is the person doing it. See for instance the opening
sentence in
Cain, Michael, David Law, & Dennis V. Lindley (2000),
“The Construction of a
Simple Book,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 20,
119-140.
The paper doesn't give further references to specific literature on horse
racing. The terms do not entail that the bookmaker will always make a profit
no matter what happens, as they do in decision theory. Maybe the adjective
Dutch is used to add that meaning?
The earliest written explanation of the concept that I am aware of is in works by de Finetti, but Ramsey has a mysterious use of the term, without explanation, as if well-known in those days. See the next section.
Ramsey mentions the book argument three times. The first mention is on p. 172, l.-7, it is in his Section 3, the 13th paragraph there. The context is elicitation of subjective probabilities through betting odds. Ramsey mentions the desire to make a book as a reason why betting odds might not work. Probably he is thinking of gaming effects.
The second mention is more remarkable, and is on p. 182. It is near the end of Section 3, end of first paragraph after the completion of the formal work. Ramsey again writes that book can be made against people who do not satisfy the laws of probability. The reversed implication, that no book can be made against people who do satisfy the laws of probability, is stated in the third mention which is most clear and which already describes de Finetti's idea.
The third mention is on p. 183. It says:
Having any definite degree of belief implies a certain measure of consistency, namely willingness to bet on a given proposition at the same odds for any stake, the stakes being measured in terms of ultimate values. Having degrees of belief obeying the laws of probability implies a further measure of consistency, namely such a consistency between the odds acceptable on different propositions as shall prevent a book being made against you.
Wakker, Peter P. (1989), “Additive Representations of Preferences, A New Foundation of Decision Analysis.” Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
References to de Finettiys works are:
de Finetti, Bruno (1931), “Sul Significato Soggettivo della
Probabilità,” Fundamenta Mathematicae 17, 298-329. Translated into English as “On the Subjective
Meaning of Probability,” in Paola Monari and Daniela Cocchi (Eds., 1993)
“Probabilitá e Induzione,” Clueb, Bologna, 291-321.
de Finetti, Bruno (1937), “La Prévision: Ses Lois Logiques, ses
Sources Subjectives,” Annales de lyInstitut Henri Poincaré 7,
1-68. Translated into English by Henry E. Kyburg
Jr., “Foresight: Its Logical Laws, its Subjective Sources.” In Henry
E. Kyburg Jr. & Howard E. Smokler (1964, Eds.), Studies in Subjective
Probability, Wiley, New York, 53-118; 2nd
edition 1980, Krieger, New York.
%pp. 93-158 in first edition?
de Finetti, Bruno (1972), “Probability, Induction and Statistics.”
Wiley, New York.
de Finetti, Bruno (1974), “Theory of Probability.” Vol.I. Wiley, New
York.
% Refers to Dutch auctions as possible origin.
Also to gangster Dutch Schulz, killed in 1935, who apparently referred to
similar combinations of betting. So then “Dutch” would be a first name not related to the country in particular.
Coleman, Andrew W. (2001), “Dutch Book.” From: A Dictionary of Psychology.
Link.
a
% first with money pump argument; ascribe idea to Norman Dalkey;
Davidson, Donald, J.C.C. McKinsey, & Patrick Suppes (1955), “Outlines of
a Formal Theory of Value, I,” Philosophy of Science 22, 140-160.
% Refers to horse racing for the term Dutch book;
Lehman, R. (1955), “On Confirmation and
Rational Betting,” Journal of Symbolic Logic 20, 251-262.
Resnik, Michael (1987), “Choices: An Introduction to Decision
Theory.” University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Schick, Fredrick (1986), “Dutch Bookies and Money Pumps,” Journal of
Philosophy 83, 112-119.