Economic history Books

Book SynopsisA detailed analysis of how government in India was financed during the period of direct British rule. This book explores the financial relationship between the Indian government, as represented by the India Office, and the City of London during the period of direct British rule. The universally accepted view is that the Office acted in the interests of the City and to the detriment of India. Financing the Raj disputes this conclusion. It argues that India was a constituent part of the City, contributing to and benefitting from its operation throughthe formation of close symbiotic and trust relationships, the exchange of gifts, the recycling of funds, and, perhaps most significantly, the support of the gold standard. The book examines the Office's activities from a British and practical perspective. In the first part, the issue and sale/purchase on the London market of Indian government debt is explored. Next, the author discusses the purchase of silver and the 'scandal' of 1912, when the awardof a major contract to the family firm of the Under Secretary of State for India led to accusations of cronyism and fraud. The finance of Indian trade, the management of exchange rates and the transfer from India to London of themoney needed to meet the Indian government's UK commitments are then investigated. The book concludes with an analysis of the Office's investment role and its management of the three cash reserves held in the capital. Financing the Raj overturns many myths, demonstrating that those involved in Indian finance did work in the best interests of India and were well aware of the close interrelationship between Indian finance, the City of London andthe wider British economy. It will be of interest both to historians of empire and historians of finance. DAVID SUNDERLAND is Reader in Business History at the University of Greenwich and the author of four monographs and numerous articles on the economic history of London, British Imperialism and nineteenth-century social capital. He is also Series and Collection editor of Pickering & Chatto's Britain and Africa series of source monographs.Trade ReviewOne cannot fail to be impressed by the amount of archival research that has gone into producing this volume, nor the sheer amount of detail that Sunderland has managed to fit into a relatively small number of pages. * HISTORY *Makes the nances of the Raj more transparent, and sheds new light on the economics of the British Empire in India. * BUSINESS HISTORY *A detailed research monograph that describes and analyzes the operations of the India Office in its relationships with the City of London's capital, money, and bullion markets. Those with an interest in those subjects should read it. * BUSINESS HISTORY REVIEW *A valuable addition to the administrative history of the British Empire and its gentlemanly arm in the City. It will be the first reference for anyone interested in the Raj's financial operations in London and a source of leads for those wishing to set India's experience in a wider context. Most importantly, Sunderland shows what kept the complex mechanisms of Indian finance in the City in motion and ultimately made them tick. * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Issue of Government Loans: Purpose, Location of Issue and Purchasers The Issue of Government Loans: Demand The Issue of Government Loans: Yields, Assets and Repatriation Other London Debt The Purchase of Silver and Other Currency Activities The Finance of Indian Trade Council Bills: Purpose and Nature Council Bills: Price Indian Government Difficulties in Cashing Bills and Other Methods of Remittance Gold Standard and Paper Currency Reserves Home Balances Conclusion Appendix 1: The Recyling of Funds Appendix 2: Finance of Indian Trade Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines how and why the East India Company was transformed from a commercial trading company to an institution of government, and then abolished. This book examines the development of British commercial, financial and political relations with India and the Far East during the final period of the East India Company's reign as the sovereign power in India. This was a most turbulent period for British commerce with India. The period began with the renewal of the East India Company's Charter and its component monopolies of trade with India and China, but this was quickly followed by the outbreak of theNapoleonic Wars, which spread to the east and saw the completion of Britain's assertion of power over India and much of Southeast Asia. However, the war also strengthened those political forces in Britain campaigning against the Company's monopolies of trade with India and China, which were consequently abolished under the Charter Acts of 1813 and 1833. The spectacular growth of the British economy following industrialisation brought new forces to bear upon India, with the rise of manufactured exports to the east. But the course of commercial relations did not run smoothly, and economic crises in Britain and India in 1833 and 1848 swept away commercial firms in both countries, andcaused severe economic retrenchments. This instability severely hampered efforts to facilitate the export of capital to India during the first half of the century. Finally the rebellion of 1857 spelt the death knell for the Company, and ushered in a new phase of Anglo-Indian economic relations, in which British foreign investment grew substantially. Anthony Webster is Programme Leader - History, in the Department of Humanities and Social Scienceat Liverpool John Moores University.Trade ReviewOf great value for anyone interested in the history of India. * HISTORYOFWAR.ORG *A fascinating business history replete with larger than life characters who make Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin and their ilk look puny. * AUSMARINE *[An] excellent new book. [...] Many historians will find valuable new insights in these pages. * ASIAN AFFAIRS *Makes an important contribution to our understanding, not only of British imperialism in general, but also of the way in which the transition between mercantilism and liberalism actually took place and the nature of the challenges that the free market economy created. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *Mines new territory by delving into the sparsely explored role played by British commercial and industrial pressure groups in Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool in challenging the East India Company's monopoly in Asian trade. [...] This well researched and written book adds an important bookend to the history of the East India Company's demise. Highly Recommended. * CHOICE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisShows how merchants sought to minimise losses by forging strong bonds of interpersonal trust amongst a range of employees, partners, and clients. Fruitfully combining approaches from economic history and the cultural history of commerce, this book examines the role of interpersonal trust in underpinning trade, amid the challenges and uncertainties of the eighteenth-centuryAtlantic. It focuses on the nature of mercantile activity in two parts of Spain: Cadiz in the south, and its trade with Spain's American empire; and Bilbao in the north, and its trade with western and northern Europe. In particular, it explores the processes of trade, trading networks and communications, seeking to understand merchant behaviour, especially the choices made by individuals when conducting business - and specifically with whom they chose to deal. Drawing from a broad range of Spanish, Peruvian and British archival sources, the book reveals merchants' experiences of trusting their agents and correspondents, and shows how different factors, from distance to legalframeworks and ethnicity, affected their ability to rely on their contacts. Xabier Lamikiz is Associate Professor of Economic History at the University of the Basque Country. .Trade Review[This] well-written and interesting book is a welcome addition to the growing sub-field of research that situates the history of the Atlantic world on the Atlantic Ocean itself. * JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES *An original and commendable study. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *This marvellous book brings theoretical rigour and insightful analysis to bear on an exceptional body of previously unknown primary-source material. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Sheds very welcome light on how Spaniards and foreign merchants in Spain traded with other markets. [...] It is both a very enjoyable and a very intelligent book. * JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES *[An] excellent book. [The] arguments are sophisticated, nuanced and well supported, and the clarity of their presentation makes them wholly accessible to all historians. This superb book is highly recommended. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *A major contribution not only to Atlantic history, but to colonial Latin American history in general. COLONIAL * LATIN AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *Very well written, with a good index, an extensive bibliography, and several useful maps and tables. Anyone interested in the Early Modern period would profit from reading it. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY *Table of ContentsIntroduction Bilbao merchants Basque ship captains and seamen Trading with Peru Long distance communications Merchants and networks Confidentiality Risk and competition

Read more less

Book SynopsisProvides for a new interpretation of the agrarian economy in late Tudor and early modern Britain. This volume revisits a classic book by a famous historian: R.H. Tawney's Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century (1912). Tawney's Agrarian Problem surveyed landlord-tenant relations in England between 1440 and 1660, the period of emergent capitalism and rapidly changing property relations that stands between the end of serfdom and the more firmly capitalist system of the eighteenth century. This transition period is widely recognised as crucial to Britain's long term economic development, laying the foundation for the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. Remarkably, Tawney's book has remained the standard text on landlord-tenant relations for over a century. Here, Tawney's book is re-evaluated by leading experts in agrarian and legal history, taking its themes as a departure point to provide for a new interpretation of the agrarian economy in late Tudor and early modern Britain. The introduction looks at how Tawney's Agrarian Problem was written, its place in the historiography of agrarian England and the current state of research. Survey chapters examine the late medieval period, a comparison with Scotland, and Tawney's conception of capitalism, whilst the remaining chapters focus on four issues that were central to Tawney's arguments: enclosure disputes, the security of customary tenure; the conversion of customarytenure to leasehold; and other landlord strategies to raise revenues. The balance of power between landlords and tenants determined how the wealth of agrarian England was divided in this crucial period of economic development - this book reveals how this struggle was played out. JANE WHITTLE is professor of rural history at Exeter University. Contributors: Christopher Brooks, Christopher Dyer, Heather Falvey, Harold Garrett-Goodyear, Julian Goodare, Elizabeth Griffiths, Jennifer Holt, Briony McDonagh, Jean Morrin, David Ormrod, William D. Shannon, Jane Whittle, Andy Wood. Foreword by Keith WrightsonTrade ReviewA thought-provoking collection. * EH.NET *The book's overall achievement is to nuance many of the views and arguments of Tawney while simultaneously exploring current and future questions in early modern agrarian history. * LANDSCAPE HISTORY *Table of ContentsForeword - Keith Wrightson Tawney's Agrarian Problem Revisited - Jane Whittle The Agrarian Problem, 1440-1520 - Christopher Dyer Common Law and Manor Courts: Lords, Copyholders and Justice in Early Tudor England - R. Harold Garrett-Goodyear Negotiating Enclosure in Sixteenth-Century East Yorkshire - Briony McDonagh The Politics of Enclosure in Elizabethan England: Contesting 'Neighbourship' in Chinley, Derbyshire - Heather Falvey Athelstan's Gift: Custom, Memory and Malmesbury's Common Lands, 1608-13 - Andy Wood In Search of the Scottish Agrarian Problem - The Transfer to Leasehold on Durham Cathedral Estate, 1541-1626 - Jean Morrin The Financial Rewards of Winning the Battle for Secure Customary Tenure - Jennifer Holt Risks and Rewards in Wasteland Enclosure: Lowland Lancashire c. 1500-1650 - William Shannon Improving Landlords or Villains of the Piece? A Case Study of Early Seventeenth-Century Norfolk - Elizabeth Griffiths The Agrarian Problem in Revolutionary England - Christopher W Brooks Agrarian Capitalism and Merchant Capitalism: Tawney, Dobb, Brenner and Beyond - David Ormrod Conclusions - Jane Whittle

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat were the consequences of the German occupation for the economy of occupied Europe? After Germany conquered major parts of the European continent, it was faced with a choice between plundering the suppressed countries and using their economies to supply its needs. The choices made not only differed from country to country, but also changed over the course of the war. Individual leaders; the economic needs of the Reich; the military situation; struggles between governors of occupied countries and Berlin officials; and finally racism, all had an impact on the outcome. In some countries the emphasis was placed on production for German warfare, which kept these economies functioning. New research, presented for the first time in this book, shows that as a consequence the economic setback in these areas was limited, and therefore post-war recovery was relatively easy. However, in other countries, plundering was more characteristic, resulting in partisan activity, a collapse of normal society and a dramatic destruction not only of the economy but in some countries of a substantial proportion of the labour force. In these countries, post-war recovery was almost impossible.Table of ContentsPreface Part 1 - IntroductionChapter 1 Occupied Economies and Total WarChapter 2 On Total WarChapter 3 Economy, Total War and Nazi GermanyChapter 4 The Economies of Occupied Europe Part 2 - ExploitationChapter 5 Exploitation: an IntroductionChapter 6 Expansion and Exploitation Chapter 7 The Periods of ExploitationChapter 8 Dissimilarities in Occupied EuropeChapter 9 The Exploitation of Occupied EuropeChapter 10 The Hunt for LabourChapter 11 Exploitation: a Conclusion Part 3 - Economic LifeChapter 12 Economic Life During Occupation: an IntroductionChapter 13 Financing Occupation and ExploitationChapter 14 TradeChapter 15 ProductionChapter 16 Conclusion Part 4 - Economic Consequences of the Occupation: Conclusions Chapter 17 Consumption Chapter 18 DamageChapter 19 Conclusions Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe House of Argyll acquired its Kintyre lands in 1607 and sold them in 1956. During that period, the Campbells exerted a powerful influence in Kintyre, through politics, religion, and agrarian reform. The core of this book is the 5th Duke of Argyll's estate instructions to his Kintyre chamberlain, or manager, from 1785 to 1805. Through these annual directions, and the chamberlain's responses, emerge the complex workings of a West Highland estate. Kintyre historian Angus Martin has taken the late Eric R. Cregeen's hitherto unpublished transcript of the instructions and illuminated them with a lengthy series of commentaries, explaining agricultural practices, social customs and cultural nuances, and providing biographical sketches of the chief personalities of the time. The study is informatively introduced by both Cregeen and Martin, enhanced by 72 illustrations, ranging from eighteenth century portraits to present-day photographs, contains a reproduction of George Langlands' celebrated 1801 map of Kintyre, and is fully furnished with references, notes and index.Trade Review'Angus Martin, taking up where Eric Cregeen left off, ... provides commentaries [containing] both factual information and informed rumination of a sort bearing witness to the many years Martin has spent studying, and thinking about, Kintyre. Taken together with the original texts at this book's core, they add up to a fine publication.' James Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History, University of the Highlands and Islands in the Scottish Historical Review.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines the growth and transformation of the Middle East economy during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The text looks at how the region's economic structures were fundamentally altered by the growing impact of European trade and finance, and by the internal reforms of the rulers of Egypt. It also examines in detail the impact of this process on the four central areas of the Middle East. The result, the author argues, was the creation of a fixed pattern of agricultural, industrial and financial activity. The states formed after the collapse of teh Ottoman Empire found that altering this pattern in their attempts to promote a less dependent form of development was frought with difficulty; and the problems they faced and their different approaches are still highly relevant to the Middle East's economic development today.Table of ContentsThe Middle East economy in 1800; the economic consequences of the age of reforms, 1800-1850; the expansion of trade with Europe, 1800-1850; The Ottoman road to bankruptcy and the Anatolian economy, 1850-1881; Egypt, 1850-1882 - from foreign borrowing to bankruptcy and occupation; the provinces of Greater syria, 1850-1880 - the economic and social tnesions of the 1850s and their consequences; the Iraqi provinces, 1850-1880; Anatolia and Istanbul, 1881-1914; the Egyptian economy, 1882-19114; Mount Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, 1880-1914; the Iraqi provinces, 1880-1914.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWages have always been a major expense for businesses. This fascinating book studies the impact of spiralling wage demands in a cotton factory in Ghent during the 19th century and the efforts of management to reduce this cost through investment in new technology and stricter employment policies. The workers' responses to wage cutting are also considered. The importance of this study lies in its unique collection of wage data -- more than 200 pay books and 100 ledgers from the Voortman cotton factory -- which show, in great detail, the hourly, daily and yearly wages for all categories of workers between 1835-1913. Various aspects of wages are addressed including: changing living and working conditions; wages of women and children in relation to the 'family wage economy'; wage comparison between workers at Voortman and workers in other industries and regions; productivity, purchasing power and industrial relations.Trade Review'Scholliers's grim story of Voortman's century-long reliance on low-wage competition vividly conveys the harsh logic of nineteenth-century capitalism.'Economic History Review'The abiding value of this work lies in its firm basis in original sources. The rich mass of business archives ... is here presented in accessible form to the dedicated scholar. A superb series of statistics ... (provides) historians with a positive treasury of valuable information. ... The work deserves to reach a readership extending beyond the circles of those interested in the history of business, labour and of textiles.'Besprechungen'The book provides a well-focused analysis of the problems of the 1970s and it is readily accessible to undergraduates of economics and history. It provides an important supplement to those texts dealing with the half-century since the war.'Business History'the author has made this study of real importance to both economic and social historians who are interested inTable of ContentsContents: Ghent and the Cotton Industry - The Voortman Mill: A Typical Cotton Factory? - Women, Men and Young People at Voortman - Wages as a Cost of Production - Wages as an Income - Conclusion: Income Strategy Versus Wage Policy

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn acerbic graphic takedown of capitalism. In Hyper-Capitalism, cartoonist Larry Gonick and psychologist Tim Kasser offer a vivid and an accessible new way to understand how global, privatising, market-worshipping hyper-capitalism is threatening human wellbeing, social justice, and the planet. Drawing from contemporary research, they describe and illustrate concepts (such as corporate power, free trade, privatisation, and deregulation) that are critical for understanding the world we live in, and movements (such as voluntary simplicity, sharing, alternatives to GDP, and protests) that have developed in response to the system. Gonick and Kasser’s pointed and profound cartoon narratives provide a deep exploration of the global economy and the movements seeking to change it, all rendered in clear, graphic — and sometimes hilarious — terms. In the process, they point the way to a healthier future for all of us.Trade Review‘A truly unique, page-turning graphical account … Gonick and Kasser pull off the monumental feat of rendering an otherwise dry and complex social-economic topic as clear, entertaining, informative, and even hilarious in spots. Hyper-Capitalism is a remarkable, essential and hopeful book for our times. To embrace and act upon its message is to live better.’ -- Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents’ Bankers and It Takes a Pillage‘Like fish who don’t know they live in polluted water (because it’s everywhere), many people don’t know they live in economically, socially, and politically polluted societies. Hyper-Capitalism, in lucid prose and delightful graphics, pulls back the curtain with crystal clarity. I can’t think of a better book for young people to read as they chart their futures.’ -- Barry Schwartz, author of The Costs of Living, The Paradox of Choice, and Why We Work‘This book explains much about how the world works, and why it increasingly doesn’t. Read it soon, before we lose any more ice caps.’ -- Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy‘A clear and concise description of how the market economy functions, why it encourages the worst aspects of human nature, and how we can cope in an age of excess.’ -- John Gowdy, Professor of Economics and Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute‘A great introduction to the current state of the economy and what can be done about it, and a solid addition for Gonick’s many fans.’ * Library Journal *‘A timely counter to those who celebrate predatory economics as the best of all possible financial worlds.’ * Kirkus Reviews *Praise for Larry Gonick ‘Larry Gonick should get an Oscar for humour and a Pulitzer for history.’ -- Richard Saul Wurman, author and creator of the TED conference‘Hyper-Capitalism is very funny.’ -- Erin Britton * Nudge Books *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis Palgrave Pivot revisits the topic of how British colonialism moulded work and life in India and what kind of legacy it left behind. Did British rule lead to India’s impoverishment, economic disruption and famine? Under British rule, evidence suggests there were beneficial improvements, with an eventual rise in life expectancy and an increase in wealth for some sectors of the population and economy, notably for much business and industry. Yet many poor people suffered badly, with agricultural stagnation and an underfunded government who were too small to effect general improvements. In this book Roy explains the paradoxical combination of wealth and poverty, looking at both sides of nineteenth century capitalism. Between 1850 and 1930, India was engaged in a globalization process not unlike the one it has seen since the 1990s. The difference between these two times is that much of the region was under British colonial rule during the first episode, while it was an independent nation state during the second. Roy's narrative has a contemporary relevance for emerging economies, where again globalization has unleashed extraordinary levels of capitalistic energy while leaving many livelihoods poor, stagnant, and discontented. Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The making of British India.- Chapter 3: The business of the cities.- Chapter 4: Unyielding land.- Chapter 5: A poor state.- Chapter 6: End of famine.- Chapter 7: A different story? The princely states.- Chapter 8: Conclusion.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book argues that inequality is not just about numbers, but is also about lived, historical experience. It supplements economic research and offers a comprehensive stocktaking of existing thinking on global inequality and its historical development. The book is interdisciplinary, drawing upon regional and national perspectives from around the world while seeking to capture the multidimensionality and multi-causality of global inequalities. Grappling with what economics offers – as well as its blind spots – the study focuses on some of today’s most relevant and pressing themes: discrimination and human rights, defences and critiques of inequality in history, decolonization, international organizations, gender theory, the history of quantification of inequality and the history of economic thought. The historical case studies featured respond to the need for wider historical research and to calls to examine global inequality in a more holistic manner.The Introduction 'Chapter 1 Histories of Global Inequality: Introduction' is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com. Trade Review“Thirteen papers offer a historical approach to global inequalities that supplements the existing economic research literature, focusing on themes such as decolonization, international organizations, gender theory, discrimination and human rights, the history of measurement of inequality, and the history of economic thought.” (Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 59 (2), June, 2021)Table of ContentsChapter 1 Histories of Global Inequality: Introduction, Christian Olaf Christiansen & Steven L. B. Jensen.- Inequality in the History of Economic and Political Thought.- Chapter 2 Historicizing Piketty: The Fall and Rise of Inequality Economics, Eli Cook.- Chapter 3 The Demise of the Radical Critique of Economic Inequality in Western Political Thought, Michael J. Thompson.- Chapter 4 Products before People - How Inequality was Sidelined by Gross National Product, Philipp Lepenies.- Chapter 5 Inequality by Numbers: The Making of a Global Political Issue, Pedro Ramos Pinto.- Inequality, Discrimination and Human Rights.- Chapter 6 Inequality and Post-war International Organisation: Discrimination, the World Social Situation and the United Nations, 1948-1957, Steven L. B. Jensen.- Chapter 7: “A pragmatic compromise between the ideal and the realistic”: Debates over human rights, global distributive justice and minimum core obligations in the 1980s, Julia Dehm.- Chapter 8 Inequality in Global Disability Policies since the 1970s, Paul van Trigt.- Chapter 9 Protection and Abuse: The Conundrum of Global Gender Inequality, Sally L. Kitch.- Inequality in an Age of Global Capitalism.- Chapter 10 Brewing Inequalities: Kenya’s Smallholder Tea Farmers and the Developmentalist State in the Late-Colonial and Early-Independence Era, Muey Saeteurn.- Chapter 11 Challenging Global Inequality in Streets and Supermarkets: Fair trade Activism since the 1960s, Peter van Dam.- Chapter 12 Partnerships Against Global Poverty: When ’Inclusive Capitalism’ Entered the United Nations, Christian Olaf Christiansen.- Chapter 13 Third World Inc.: Notes from the Frontiers of Global Capital, Ravinder Kaur.-

Read more less

Book SynopsisStandard histories of European integration emphasize the immediate aftermath of World War II as the moment when the seeds of the European Union were first sown. However, the interwar years witnessed a flurry of concern with the reconstruction of the world order, generating arguments that cut across the different social sciences, then plunged in a period of disciplinary soul-searching and feverish activism. Economics was no exception: several of the most prominent interwar economists, such as F. A. Hayek, Jan Tinbergen, Lionel Robbins, François Perroux, J. M. Keynes and Robert Triffin, contributed directly to larger public discussions on peace, order and stability. This edited volume combines these different strands of historical narrative into a unified framework, showing how political economy was integral to the interwar literature on international relations and, conversely, how economists were eager to incorporate international politics into their own concerns. The book brings together a group of scholars with varied disciplinary backgrounds, whose combined perspectives allow us to explore three analytical layers. The first part studies how different forms of economic knowledge, from economic programming to international finance, were used in the quest for a stable European order. The second part focuses on the existence of conflicting expectations about the role of social scientific knowledge, either as a source of technical solutions or as an input for enlightened public discussion. The third part illustrates how certain ideas and beliefs found concrete expression in specific institutional settings, which amplified their political leverage. The three parts are enclosed by an introductory essay, laying out the broad topics explored in the volume, and a substantial postscript tying all the historical threads together.Trade Review“This book brings interesting perspectives on the interwar period, showing also the link with the process of European integration in the postwar period.” (Ivo Maes and Robert Triffin Chair, History of Political Economy, Vol. 55 (2), April, 2023)Table of Contents Introduction Eucken’s Competition with Keynes: Beyond the Ordoliberal Allergy to the Keynesian Medicine Third-Way Perspectives on Order in Interwar France: Personalism and the Political Economy of François Perroux Corporatism and Planning in Monnet’s Idea of Europe The Construction of an International Order in the Work of Jan Tinbergen At the Origins of European Monetary Cooperation: Triffin, Bretton Woods, and the European Payments Union Technocracy, Corporatism, and the Development of 'Economic Parliaments' in Interwar Europe Pluralism, Tripartism and the Foundation of the International Labour Organization Pluralism and Political Economy in Interwar Britain: G.D.H. Cole on Economic Planning Ordoliberalism and the Rethinking of Liberal Rationality Classical Liberalism, Non-Interventionism and the Origins of European Integration: Luigi Einaudi, Friedrich A. von Hayek, Wilhelm Röpke Staving off the Protectionist Slide: Snowden and the Struggle to Keep Britain Open The Formation of Research Institutes on Business Cycles in Europe in the Interwar Period: The ‘Kiel School’ and (In)voluntary Internationalization Divided by an Uncommon Language? The Oxford Institute of Statistics and British Academia (1935-1944) The Intellectual Origins of European Integration

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is a critical interpretation of a seminal and protracted debate in comparative global economic history. Since its emergence, in now classic publications in economic history between 1997-2000, debate on the divergent economic development that has marked the long-term economic growth of China and Western Europe has generated a vast collection of books and articles, conferences, networks, and new journals as well as intense interest from the media and educated public. O’Brien provides an historiographical survey and critique of Western views on the long-run economic development of the Imperial Economy of China – a field of commentary that stretches back to the Enlightenment. The book’s structure and core argument is concentrated upon an elaboration of, and critical engagement with, the major themes of recent academic debate on the “Great Divergence” and it will be of enormous interest to academics and students of economic history, political economy, the economics of growth and development, state formation, statistical measurements, environmental history, and the histories of science and globalization.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Historiographical Context and Bibliographical Guide.- Chapter 2: Statistical Bases for a Chronology of Economic Divergence Between Imperial China and Western Europe, 1636-1839.- Chapter 3: Environments and Natural Resources.- Chapter 4: The Ming and Qing Imperial States and their Agrarian Economies.- Chapter 5: Sino-Centred Reciprocal Comparisons of Europe’s and China’s Economic Growth 1650-1850.- Chapter 6: Cosmographies for the Discovery, Development and Diffusion of Useful and Reliable Knowledge in Europe and China.- Chapter 7: Debatable Conclusions.

Read more less