...co1 Introduction: The Sixteen-Page Economic History of the World He may therefore be justly numbered among the benefactors of mankind, who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be easily impressed on the memory, and taught by frequent recollection to recur habitually to the mind. —Samuel Johnson, Rambler No. 175 (November 19, 1751) The basic outline of world economic history is surprisingly simple. Indeed it can be summarized in one diagram: figure 1.1. Before 1800 income per person—the food, clothing, heat, light, and housing available per head—varied across societies and epochs. But there was no upward trend. A simple but powerful mechanism explained in this book, the Malthusian Trap, ensured that short term gains in income through technological advances were inevitably lost through population growth. Thus the average person in the world of 1800 was no better off than the average person of 100,000 BC. Indeed in 1800 the bulk of the world population was poorer than their remote ancestors. The lucky denizens of wealthy societies such as eighteenth-century England or the Netherlands managed a material lifestyle equivalent to that of the Stone Age. But the vast swath of humanity in East and South Asia, particularly in China and Japan, eked out a living under conditions probably significantly poorer than those of cavemen. The quality of life also failed to improve on any other observable dimension. Life expectancy was no higher in 1800 than for hunter-gatherers:...
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...com/reviews/review-essay/2015-04-20/what-causedcapitalism What Caused Capitalism? Assessing the Roles of the West and the Rest By Jeremy Adelman The Cambridge History of Capitalism, 2 vols. EDITED BY LARRY NEAL AND JEFFREY G. WILLIAMSON. Cambridge University Press, 2014, 1,205 pp. $260.00. The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain, 1700–1850 BY JOEL MOKYR. Yale University Press, 2012, 550 pp. $35.00. Empire of Cotton: A Global History BY SVEN BECKERT. Knopf, 2014, 615 pp. $35.00. Once upon a time, smart people thought the world was flat. As globalization took off, economists pointed to spreading market forces that allowed consumers to buy similar things for the same prices around the world. Others invoked the expansion of liberalism and democracy after the Cold War. For a while, it seemed as if the West’s political and economic ways really had won out. But the euphoric days of flat talk now seem like a bygone era, replaced by gloom and anxiety. The economic shock of 2008, the United States’ political paralysis, Europe’s financial quagmires, the dashed dreams of the Arab Spring, and the specter of competition from illiberal capitalist countries such as China have doused enthusiasm about the West’s destiny. Once seen as a model for “the rest,” the West is now in question. Even the erstwhile booster Francis Fukuyama has seen the dark, warning in his recent twovolume history of political order that the future may not lie with the places that brought the world liberalism and democracy in the...
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...Since the end of the second world war, many East Asian economies have seen a “miraculous” growth. And with so many other nations still in poverty, economists and leaders are turning their eyes towards the “East Asian tigers” to see if they can replicate their results. When looking at the facts it is obvious that the the circumstances facing the East Asian nations were quite different than the ones that nations face today. But outside of these differences a loose model of the East Asian miracle can be utilized in Third World nations today and, considering the high success rate of so many of the East Asian economies, would most likely see positive results. The secret to success of East Asian economies is the hand that the government has had in industrial affairs. Starting in the 1950s nations like china began taking steps towards centralized government through reform. One example of this would be the Chinese land reform of the 50s under the new Mao Zedong's communist regime (Blecher, 2010:p.27). This land reform took away the oligarchic control of the landlords, changing the feudalistic policy of landlordism over to a more capitalistic form of socialism in which the government has the control. This is clearly a very vital part of the industrialization process as many nations that have failed with the agrarian reform continue to find themselves struggling to get out of poverty. A modern example of this would be Brazil, where the rural landlords have stalled any sort of reform that...
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...has now emerged with startling answers for both questions. Gregory Clark, an economic historian at the University of California, Davis, believes that the Industrial Revolution -- the surge in economic growth that occurred first in England around 1800 -- occurred because of a change in the nature of the human population. The change was one in which people gradually developed the strange new behaviors required to make a modern economy work. The middle-class values of nonviolence, literacy, long working hours and a willingness to save emerged only recently in human history, Dr. Clark argues. Because they grew more common in the centuries before 1800, whether by cultural transmission or evolutionary adaptation, the English population at last became productive enough to escape from poverty, followed quickly by other countries with the same long agrarian past. Dr. Clark’s ideas have been circulating in articles and manuscripts for several years and are to be published as a book next month, "A Farewell to Alms" (Princeton University Press). Economic historians have high praise for his thesis, though many disagree with parts of it. "This is a great book and deserves attention," said Philip Hoffman, a historian at the California Institute of Technology. He described it as "delightfully provocative" and a "real challenge" to the prevailing school of thought that it is institutions that shape economic history. Samuel Bowles, an...
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...Alfred DuPont and Carol Remsay Chandler. He was an American known as an economic historian who reformed the writing of business history and has added greatly to our understanding of corporate organization's critical role in economic development and died on May 9 in Cambridge, Mass and he was 88. Even though he was busy with administrative duties since he began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950 as a research associate until he become chairman of the Historical Advisory Committee of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1969, a post he held until 1977, he still find time to write and one of his famous achievement was his book The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business which is the conclusion of his point of view on the operation of American business and earned the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes in 1978. Moreover, he wrote The Essential Alfred Chandler: Essays toward a Historical Theory of Big Business (1988), and his Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism was written with the assistance of Takashi Hikino (1990). Scale and Scope was hailed as an imperative historical reference covering three-quarters of the twentieth century. Alfred Chandler contribute on management and as business historian he studied the management from a historical perspective and see the business firms in the environmental context including social, cultural, legal, political, and economic in which they operate. In result of Alfred Chandler’s recent passing...
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...Policy Name: Institution: Date: Abstract The Canadian Confederation entails the process through which the Canada emerged in 1867 when three colonies under Britain formed the four provinces Canada. During the emergence of Canada in 1867, several factors played vital roles in its formation and these factors include political, economic and social factors and other forces and actors. The National Policy was introduced by John Macdonald in the year 1879 and it entailed the implementation of high tariffs on the manufactured imported products so as to safeguard and protect manufacturing industries in Canada. The National Policy was also very crucial in the development of the rural Prairie West as cattle ranching activities were introduced in the region. The paper will discuss the factors that led to the emergence of Canada, analyse the National Policy and its significance for the development of the rural Prairie West. Political, Economic and Social factors, actors and forces that were instrumental in the emergence of Canada in 1867 Several factors played a significant role in the emergence of Canada in 1867. These factors include political, economic and social factors in combination to other forces and actors. The political factors played a considerable role in the emergence of Canada because by the mid 1860s, the Great Britain had almost lost its concern for the colonies it controlled in North America and particularly Canada. The loss in interest was mainly because these colonies...
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...Century In the history of economics, John Maynard Keynes is of the most influential people. He strongly influenced the economy and became widely recognized while he was still alive. The man who 75 years ago wrote an essay “The Economic Possibilities for our Grand Children” brought very important issues to our attention. Keynes wondered what kind of world our children would live in, and what sort of tools would they need to succeed and be happy. So what do we know about this extraordinary man, and how did his economic views change our lives? In order to know why Keynes was a successful economist, it is important to know where he came from. John Maynard Keynes was born June 5, 1883 in Cambridge England. His father was an economist and a lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and his mother was a local social reformer. With the assistance and coaching of his parents, Keynes was successful throughout his time in school. Many people were not surprised that Keynes became an economist since his father was a professor of economics. He was good at managing his own finances. His investments with foreign money made him a wealthy man. This allowed him to sponsor the classic ballet along with his Russian wife, a classic ballet dancer. In Grossak’s (1978) article he explains how Keynes did not plan on becoming an economist. He did not study economics until his senior year at college, and although his professors encouraged him to continue on with economics he chose a job in...
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...rights, associations, and movements of the majority black inhabitants and other ethnic groups were curtailed and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. British citizen: A British citizen is someone that gained British nationality because they are connected with the UK. British dependent territories citizens: People who live in dependent British colonies like Gibraltar and British Virgin Islands. British Overseas citizens: Groups of people who have a connection with the UK because they lived in a former British colony that is now independent. British Nationals (Overseas): People from Hong Kong were given the chance to acquire this status as many were unhappy at the thought of losing British nationality when Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. British protected persons: Individuals who had a connection with a former British Protectorate. This is an overseas territory that Britain used to protect, such as the country of Brunei. British subjects: It refers in British nationality law, to a limited class of people defined by Part IV of the British Nationality Act 1981. Under that Act, two groups of people became "British subjects"; the first were people from the Republic of Ireland born before 1949 who already claimed subject status, and the second covered a number of people who had previously been considered "British subjects without citizenship", and were not considered citizens of any other country. This second group were predominantly residents of colonies which had...
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...Introduction Economic principles are thought not to go hand in hand with natural science laws. These are laws or principles upon which the economy should be build. This is the discipline which economists use when applying economics. Basis, a text book written by Alfred Marshall (1890 Principles of Economics) who was born in 1842 in Bermondsey, London, England, died 13 July 1924 in Cambridge, England) who was a great economist in his days for a long time and his book dominated England for a considerably lengthy period of time. He is known to be one of the economics founders. His book brings to life the ideas mentioned below. Marshall saw the work of economics was to improve the living standards of the people and eliminate poverty. In his book Marshall had many original ideas however; he added an improved version of W.S Jevons ideas. Supply and Demand Supply and demand are thought to be some of the most primary ideas of economics and is surely the backbone of any market economy. Demand refers to the quantity (How much) of service or a product people are ready to buy at a given prize, supply refers to the quantity the market can offer. Marshall recognized that in the short run the value of the market depends on demand mainly, and that it is not possible to change supply. The relation between demand and supply, determine the forces behind the distribution of resources thus ensuring efficiency. The law of demand states that, if all other factors remain...
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...Of the economists we’ve studied, rank the three that you believe are the most important to the history of economic thought. For each individual, explain why you put him/her on your list. In the history of economics, I believe the three most important economists are Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. After learning about so many different influences of economics, it is difficult to choose only three however the three that I chose seem to have the biggest impact. They all had different theories and ideas of economic thinking. Some ideas were developed off of the predecessors principles, while other beliefs were opposing the ideas completely. Overall, it is important to study and learn from their methods to help understand how an economy works and how to attain their goals. The first economists I found the most important to the history of economics was Adam Smith. Adam Smith was not only a founder of the classical school but he had many influential ideas of moral values and political economy. The two books he wrote that were very important to economic thinking were The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations. They complimented it each and demonstrate his way of thinking. Smith believed in a free market and that this idea is best for society. He developed the idea of the “invisible hand”, meaning if people went after their own self-interests that it would also benefit society. The division of labor was another idea that Smith was noted on discovering...
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...Mhd Anass Kazah Economic Thought Paper 1 Dr. Walid Akar [pic] Economics, study of how human beings allocate scarce resources to produce various Goods and services and how this production is distributed for consumption among the consumers (demanders) in the society. Economics is historical were it all started 800BC with the pre-classical economics (early pre-classical economics with the Greeks from 800 BC till the 1500s and then we have the late pre-classical economics which was from the 1500s till 1776). And in the later era we had 2 schools of economics, the Mercantilist and the Physicrats. Mercantilism was spread all over Europe and mean while physiocracy was a French school of economic thought which was in the period of time from 1750-1789. These two schools had different ways of thinking when it came to various things such as, wealth and growth, consumption and wages, trade, and money. The definition of wealth and money for the mercantilists was that the primary duty of the state is to enhance and maintain both national wealth and national power in order to defend the country and National Wealth consists solely or primarily in its supply of precious metals such as gold and silver. And the state or the government used to earn all this wealth by trade. Where the government encouraged exports and discouraged imports so that gold would be in the country which meant to them that they had more power since they are richer, and...
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...The First School of Thought About the middle of the 18th century, a group of French thinkers called physiocrats evolved a system of economic thought which came to be known as Physiocracy. By physiocracy we mean the rule of nature. The physiocrats were the vehement critics of mercantilists. They were the believers in 'Natural Order' and were against the materialistic, rigid, restrictive and controlled merchant capitalism of the mercantilists. The physiocrats preferred to be called 'the economists'. They believed in some natural power which is responsible for human happiness and prosperity. In a sense, physiocracy was a political and social system. The system of economic thought of the physiocrats formed one of the important roots of modern economics. Though they were different types of people, like physicians, philosophers, men of letters and statesmen with different views, they had great unanimity of ideas. In the history of economic thought, physiocrats occupy an important place as they formed the first School of Thought. Unlike the mercantilists, the physiocrats were in close touch with each other, acknowledged a common leader, established organs of propaganda and presented a common doctrine Francis Quesnay, a physician and court doctor in France was the leader of this School of Thought. The physiocrats advocated returned to agriculture as the chief occupation. The restoration of natural justice and liberty was there aim. Hence Adam Smith considered physiocracy as a School...
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...Conclusions Conclusions are very similar to introductions in that they should give an overview of the way in which the essay answered the question. They frequently include a very brief summary of the main points (pieces of evidence, data, and so on) from the argument you constructed to answer the question. It is extremely important that you explain, explicitly and very clearly, precisely how the argument you have produced answered the specific question or task set in the essay title. Here are some real examples with comments: Example 1 The question: 1. ‘The most important factor in explaining Japan’s Twentieth Century international trading success has been the willingness of other countries to buy Japanese exports.’ Discuss the validity of this statement A student conclusion Therefore as long as Japanese manufacturers are encouraged to export their products to countries such as the US and as they are forced to pay high margins to distribute their products at home they will use the alternative to export them abroad as there is a ready made market for their products. The Japanese trading companies also stand ready to offer them simple, direct and efficient export distribution channels. Comment Far too short, and no mention of how the argument they constructed answered the question asked of them. Example 2 A student conclusion Japan discourages imports of manufactured goods, the only goods it allows to import...
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...a) Suppose you are hired to manage a small manufacturing facility which produces Widgets. a. You know from data collected on the Widget Market that market demand has recently increased and market supply has recently decreased. As manager of the facility what decisions should you make regarding production levels and pricing for you Widget facility? In this case, the manager would increase the supply and price; but is should increase both in a controlled environment so that the total revenue profits does not drop (for example, raising price beyond a certain price might decrease the demand thus reducing overall profit) Also, the supply should be increased so that Marginal Cost< Marginal Revenue. Because supply has increased along with demand it isn't clear what decision should be made. The manager should gather information as far as how much greater the increase in demand has become. It may indicate the need to increase production. On the other hand, the entrance of new competitors could indicate the need for greater advertising to increase brand recognition, or the introduction of new products. Greater demand means that prices can be increased, as long as the demand isn't matched by the increase in supply. b) Now, suppose that following the supply and demand changes, in (a). a substitute good goes up in price, and your costs of production decrease. What new decisions will you make regarding production levels and pricing for your Widget facility? Increase the production...
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...EGAD bottling is a company that has decided to introduce a new line bottle of premium bottled water that would include several designers with different flavors. There as two managers namely Georgianna Mercer who is the marketing manager and Mark Mercer who is the production manager. They have both come up with forecasts to determine the cost of production of the product. I would highly recommend on the first plan by manager Georgianna Mercer. This is because the total cost for forecasting is $1092 while that of Mark mercer totals up to $2622. In business, the organizations min aim is to maximize on profits. In order to maximize on these profits, then the costs spent on production has to be minimal. The regular production cost is $1 per tank load while that of overtime production is $1.6. Hence for Georgianna’s forecast would be (420 tank loads x1) + (420x1.6) =1092. $ Opening stock 0 Regular production cost (1x60) 60 Overtime production cost (1.6x15) 24 Subcontracting cost (2x60x6) 18 Holding cost (2x60x6) 720 Back ordering cost (5x60x6) 1800 2622 Information about the new line has been shared to the supply chain managers. Some of the information that might be shared to them would include: supply capacity, delivery, payment and timeliness. It would be important for the EGAD...
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