The Economic Future in Historical Perspective by David, Paul A.; Thomas, Mark;

Short description:

The essays in this volume demonstrate the power of using history to improve our understanding of the economic and social challenges of the present and future. A distinguished group of authors provide new perspectives on the dynamics of economic growth, the challenges of economic and political transitions, and the relationships between economic growth, institutional development and individual well-being in mature industrial societies.

Long description:

In this volume, leading modern economic historians show how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; they offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the attention of policy makers in the coming decades. The seventeen essays are organised around three major themes, the first of which is the changing constellation of forces sustaining long-run economic growth in market economies. The second major theme concerns the contemporary challenges posed by transitions in economic and political regimes, and by ideologies that represent legacies from past economic conditions that still affect policy responses to new 'crises'. The third theme is modern economic growth's diverse implications for human economic welfare - in terms of economic security, nutritional and health status, and old age support - and the institutional mechanisms communities have developed to cope with the risks that individuals are exposed to by the concomitants of rising prosperity.

Table of Contents:

• Editors' Introduction: Thinking Historically about Tomorrow's Economic Challenges


• PART ONE: DRIVERS OF LONG-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH


• The Industrious Revolution and Economic Growth, 1650-1830


• English Apprenticeship: A Neglected Factor in the First Industrial Revolution


• Human Capital and Productivity Performance: Britain, the United States and Germany 1870-1990


• General Purpose Technologies and Surges in Productivity: Historical Reflections on the Future of the ICT Revolution


• Technological Systems and Comparative Systems of Innovation: From Historical Performance to Future Policy Guidelines


• PART TWO: CHANGES IN ECONOMIC REGIMES AND IDEOLOGIES


• The East Asian Escape from Economic Backwardness: Retrospect and Prospect


• The Russian Transition through the Historical Looking-glass: Gradual versus Abrupt Decontrol of Economic Systems in Britain and Russia


• Rational Resistance to Land Privatization: The Behaviour of Russia's Rural Producers in Response to Agrarian Reforms, 1861-2000


• Understanding the Past to Reshape the Future: Problems of South Africa's Transition


• Lessons from Italy's Monetary Unification (1862-1880) for Euro and Europe's Single Market


• Ideology and the Shadow of History: A Perspective on the Great Depression


• PART THREE: WELFARE, WELL-BEING AND INDIVIDUAL ECONOMIC SECURITY


• Economic Welfare Measurements and Human Well-being


• The Human Body in Britain-Past and Future


• Height and the High Life-What Future for a Tall Story?


• Producing Health in Past and Present: The Changing Rates of Scientific and Alternative Medicine


• Community and State Institutions for Individual Economic Security: The Western European Historical Experience


• Paying for Old Age: Past, Present, Future