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Introduction: The Sixteen-Page Economic History of the World

  • Article
  • 2007
  • #Economics
Gregory Clark
@GregoryClark
(Author)
assets.press.princeton.edu
Read on assets.press.princeton.edu
1 Recommender
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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,... Show More

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 shortterm gains in income through technological advances were inevitably lost
through population growth.

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Jeremy Horpedahl @jmhorp · Jan 20, 2022
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Ch. 1 of Clark's book is one of the best short summaries of the history of economic growth I've ever read (even if you disagree with his genetic interpretation). It's the first thing my undergrad econ history students read.
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