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: history of trade and commerce
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 Industrial Revolution
Britain experienced a period of rapid technological progress that forever changed the nature of work, and that allowed it to dominate markets around the world.
Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen in Britain in the Eighteenth Century?
The central feature of the Industrial Revolution was technological innovation on an unprecedented scale, so explaining the time and place of the innovation is tantamount to explaining the time and place of the Industrial Revolution. Why did this wave of innovation occur in Britain in the eighteenth century?
The Nineteenth-Century Rules for Growth
Over the course of the Industrial Revolution, Britain became an industrial superpower. Other countries had to find policies that would allow them to develop their industry despite Britain’s enormous first-mover advantage. These policies necessarily involved protectionist trade policies and government intervention…
The Division of the World
W. Arthur Lewis explained why the world divided into manufacturers and primary producers, and into prosperous temperate countries and poor tropical countries.
More on the Division of the World
Long-distance trade grew rapidly during the nineteenth century. It led to a substantial widening of the gap between the per capita incomes of the West and the Third World.
The Transformation of Japan after the Meiji Restoration
In the three or four decades that followed the Meiji Restoration, Japan utterly transformed itself. The transformation was wide-ranging, deliberate, determined, and profound. By the beginning of World War I, Japan could justly claim to be among the leading nations of the world…
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.
Merchants and Mechanics 