How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth

Dedication
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
1 Why, When, and How Did the World Become Rich?
	What Is Economic Growth?
	Measuring the Past
	What Will You Learn from This Book?
	What This Book Does Not Do
Part I Theories of How the World Became Rich
	2 Did Some Societies Win the Geography Lottery?
		Geography and Modern Development
		Mountains, Coasts, and Climate
		Geography and Transport Infrastructure
		Geography and Industrialization
		Chapter Summary
	3 Is It All Just Institutions?
		What Are Institutions?
		Property Rights
		The Legal System
		Political Institutions
		More Equal Rights for All
		Institutions and the Commercial Revolution
		Between the State and the Market: Guilds
		Parliaments and Limited Government
		War and State Finances
		Chapter Summary
	4 Did Culture Make Some Rich and Others Poor?
		What Is Culture and Why Does It Matter?
		Can Culture Explain the European Take-off?
		Does Religion Affect Economic Growth?
		The Protestant Work Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism
		If Not a Work Ethic, Why Did Protestant Countries Grow Faster?
		The Reformation and Religion as a Source of Political Legitimacy
		Is Islam the Cause of Middle Eastern Economic Stagnation?
		The Long-Term Persistence of Culture
		The North–South Italy Divide
		The Persistence of Trust Norms
		Gender Norms
		Chapter Summary
	5 Fewer Babies?
		Malthusian Pressures
		The Black Death
		Household Formation and the European Marriage Pattern
		Did the EMP Spur Economic Growth?
		Reasons for Skepticism
		Demographic Change and the Transition to Modern Economic Growth
		Chapter Summary
	6 Was It Just a Matter of Colonization and Exploitation?
		How Did the Colonizers Benefit?
		The Slave Trades
		The Resource Grab
		Some Silver Linings of Colonialism?
		Public Goods and Education
		Missionaries
		Chapter Summary
Part II Why Some Parts of the World Became Rich First, Why Other Parts Followed, and Why Some Are Not There Yet
	7 Why Did Northwestern Europe Become Rich First?
		How Geography Shaped Institutional Development
		Why Was There No Medieval European Take-off?
		Divergence within Europe Just before the Take-off
		Parliaments and the Rise of Limited, Representative Government
		Chapter Summary
	8 Britain’s Industrial Revolution
		A Consumer Revolution
		Capitalist Agriculture
		Do Political Institutions Explain Britain’s Industrialization?
		Mercantilism and Empire
		Does the Transatlantic Slave Trade Explain Britain’s Industrialization?
		Was It Cotton?
		Was It Market Size?
		How About State Capacity?
		Maybe It Was Skilled Mechanical Workers?
		An Innovative Economy
		High Wages and Induced Innovation
		An Enlightened Economy
		Chapter Summary
	9 The Rise of the Modern Economy
		The Fruits of Industrialization
		The Second Industrial Revolution
		The Demographic Transition
		The Uneven Diffusion of Modern Economic Growth
		How the US Became Rich
		The Soviet Detour
		Chapter Summary
	10 Industrialization and the World It Created
		Delayed Catch-up: The Shadow of Colonization (and Other Factors)
		How Japan Became Rich
		How the East Asian Tigers Became Rich
		How China Is Becoming Rich
		Chapter Summary
	11 The World Is Rich
References
Index
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