In the Middle Ages, much of Europe was sparsely populated. People lived in small settlements separated by lawless wilderness, so they had to be self-reliant.
Category: economic institutions
The End of Feudalism
Feudalism ended when the factors that had supported it disappeared: small and isolated populations, limited markets, the dominance of the knight in warfare.
Economic Ideology and the Glorious Revolution
At the time of the Glorious Revolution, an ideology that emphasized the value of labour pushed aside an ideology that justified the power of the landowners.
The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was one aspect of a dramatic change in the way that people thought of themselves and the world in which they lived.
Why Nations Fail: Extractive and Inclusive Institutions
Acemoglu and Robinson argue that a country’s prosperity is determined by its political and economic institutions. Casual empiricism supports their argument.
Why Nations Fail: Theory is Tidy, History is Messy
Evidence from the Industrial Revolution does not support Acemoglu and Robinson’s claim that the transition to sustained growth always follows the same pattern.
Property and Property Rights: A History
The Western concept of property has been influenced by such thinkers as John Locke, James Madison, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Hayek.
The Doctrines of Nineteenth-Century Socialism
Socialist ideas first appeared in the early 1800s. Saint-Simon, Sismondi, Fourier and Marx were among their early expositors and proponents.
The Political Impact of Nineteenth-Century Socialism
Socialist and communist political parties were active by 1870. The most successful Marxist party, Germany’s SPD, was the largest party in the Reichstag by 1914.
An Economic History of Russia: 1900-1924
In the first decades of the twentieth century, Russia went from autocracy, to revolution and civil war, to communist rule.
Merchants and Mechanics 