How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth

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The world we know today is a direct result of the economic growth that began in Britain in the 19th century, quickly spread to parts of Europe and North America, and has continued unabated since. This is not to deny a connection between the two, and reasonable people disagree over the relevant counterfactuals.

This chapter examines the broader trajectory of economic development after the Industrial Revolution. If the authors were to examine these other issues in more detail, it would likely detract from the focus of the work. The contrast is between favoring incumbents by raising profitability (in this case for political purposes) rather than encouraging new entrants.By incorporating these multiple perspectives, the authors address a limitation in the literature that often emphasizes economic factors while neglecting the broader societal and environmental context of growth. By examining economic growth within a broader social and geographical context, the book offers relevant insights applicable to economics and related disciplines. It reflects on the current state of the world economy and the factors that have contributed to global wealth and provides insights into potential prospects for economic growth. None of these causes explain why income became more broadly distributed by themselves; it was a combination of these factors that mattered.

Growth might continue to stagnate, but this will be because of institutional failures and not some inherent features of the growth process. Furthermore, the book effectively employs real-world examples and case studies to illustrate the concepts and theories discussed. My children live in a world of very different technology than I did as a child, as did I relative to my parents.

The work of scholars like Kyle Harper, Peter Temin, and Willem Jongman does indicate that the Roman economy was highly commercialized and urbanized (for preindustrial standards). We are treated to a catalog of canonical results wrung from the stones of history, findings that we can use to guide our thinking about broader questions of development. Joe Studwell's How Asia Works offers an interventionist argument for growth in the region, stressing the role of agrarian redistribution, moving resources into manufacturing, and state mobilization of finances behind long-term development plans in winning (or losing) East Asian countries a place in the global market.