Working Paper: NBER ID: w20658
Authors: Peter Temin
Abstract: This review essay of the two-volume Cambridge History of Capitalism (2014), edited by Larry Neal and Jeffrey G. Williamson, is divided into three parts. First, I describe three chapters from the second volume that I recommend for all economists to add depth to their understanding of the world economy today. Robert C. Allen analyzes the world distribution of income; Randall Morck and Bernard Yeung discuss the history of business groups; and Peter Lindert surveys private and public programs to help the poor. In each case, they analyze historical backgrounds that illuminate current issues. Second, I criticize the definition of capitalism used in these volumes as too expansive to be useful. I argue that this definition mars the essays in first volume by stimulating a fruitless search for capitalism in the millennium before the Industrial Revolution. Third, I describe the essays in this reference work starting from the most recent and ending with those about antiquity.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: N14; O57; P12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher real wages in London and Amsterdam (N93) | incentives for innovation and industrialization (O31) |
| the black death (N94) | labor scarcity (J23) |
| labor scarcity (J23) | altered agricultural practices (Q15) |
| altered agricultural practices (Q15) | shift from arable farming to husbandry (P32) |
| shift from arable farming to husbandry (P32) | changed women's roles in society (J16) |
| changed women's roles in society (J16) | influenced marriage patterns (J12) |
| business groups structure (L22) | economic performance (P17) |