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Merchants and Mechanics

Exploring the History of Economic Growth

Category: political institutions

Democracy’s Dilemma

Democracy’s Dilemma

November 13, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in political institutions

Democracy only succeeds when it constrains the temptation to exercise power in ways that advance self-interests at the expense of national interests.

Property and Property Rights: A History

Property and Property Rights: A History

November 10, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in economic institutions, political institutions, property rights, social institutions

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

The Doctrines of Nineteenth-Century Socialism

October 22, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in economic institutions, political institutions, social institutions

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

The Political Impact of Nineteenth-Century Socialism

October 21, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in economic institutions, political institutions, social institutions

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

An Economic History of Russia: 1900-1924

October 8, 2017March 17, 2023 Posted in economic institutions, history of economic growth, political institutions

In the first decades of the twentieth century, Russia went from autocracy, to revolution and civil war, to communist rule.

An Economic History of Russia: 1924-1953

An Economic History of Russia: 1924-1953

October 6, 2017March 18, 2023 Posted in history of economic growth, political institutions

During Stalin’s rule, the Soviet Union abandoned markets in favour of a pure command economy, and industrialized at the fastest possible pace.

An Economic History of Russia: 1953-1985

An Economic History of Russia: 1953-1985

October 4, 2017March 26, 2023 Posted in economic institutions, history of economic growth, political institutions

The years 1953-85 were a test of the efficacy of central planning. It was a test that central planning unequivocally failed. What went wrong?

An Economic History of Russia: 1985-1991

An Economic History of Russia: 1985-1991

October 2, 2017March 21, 2023 Posted in economic institutions, history of economic growth, political institutions

Mikhail Gorbachev introduced market-oriented economic reforms in the late 1980s. They were too little, too late. The Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991.

The Holodomor and Mao’s Famine

The Holodomor and Mao’s Famine

May 5, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in economic institutions, political institutions

The Communist governments of Stalin and Mao were responsible for two of the worst famines in history.

Chinese Politics in the Time of Deng Xiaoping

Chinese Politics in the Time of Deng Xiaoping

March 31, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in history of economic growth, political institutions, social institutions

The era in which Deng Xiaoping restructured the Chinese economy was also an era of social unrest, both within China and in the Eastern Bloc.

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