Description
Book SynopsisAlongside unprecedented improvements in longevity and material well-being, the twentieth century saw the rise of fascism and communism and a second world war followed by a cold war. Governments with market economies won the battle against these competing systems by combining growth and efficiency with greater equality of opportunity and outcome.
Trade ReviewThis book is a great achievement. The twentieth century was filled with different economic experiments and enormous economic and social changes. Pomfret covers the main developments in Western Europe and the United States, with separate chapters on the Soviet economic model, the collapse of central planning, and the developing countries. The book is complete but also succinct, well-informed, and interesting. -- Douglas A. Irwin, Dartmouth College
The linking of history and sound economics in telling the story of the last two centuries (the author goes substantially beyond the twentieth-century emphasis of the title) is a terrific idea, and the application of different growth models in explaining twentieth-century growth in various institutional and political contexts is wonderful. The emphasis on equality and inequality is also very welcome and feeds into current and important contemporary concerns: does high inequality, especially in the U.S. and the U.K. jeopardize continued growth? -- Harold James, Princeton University
This in-depth history examines economic growth over two centuries from a global perspective, outlining relationships between economic perspectives, governmental policymaking, monetary systems, marketplaces, wars, and cyclic events, such as inflations and recessions...Especially interesting is Pomfret's discussion of the history of the gold standard and its relationship to economic growth and equality, which is relevant in light of the current economic climate. -- Caroline Geck * Library Journal *
[An] engaging history of the twentieth century. -- Richard N. Cooper * Foreign Affairs *
