Rosenbloom, Joshua, Economic History

Economics 766
Economic History
Fall 1997
Professor Joshua L. Rosenbloom
Summerfield Hall, 213-C
Phone: 864-2839
e-mail: J-Rosenbloom@ukans.edu
Office Hours: T, TR 2-3, F 9-10
Description
This course examines aspects of the development of the western capitalist economies
from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. The approach taken is topical, focussing on the
causes of economic development, and the interactions between social institutions, political
structure, technology, and the economy. Much of the course will be devoted to characterizing
and explaining the onset of modern economic growth associated with the Industrial Revolution.
The consequences of this transformation will also be examined in some depth.
Class Meetings
I hope that we will be able to devote most scheduled class meetings to discussion of the
assigned readings. Consequently it is important that you read the required readings for each
topic prior to class. The attached course outline and reading list shows the approximate dates on
which specific readings will be discussed. I will provide additional guidance during the course
of the semester on which readings will be discussed and what questions to focus on. Your
participation in class discussion will be an important determinant of your final grade.
Reading
Copies of all required and recommended books have been placed on reserve at Watson
Library. Copies of required articles and unpublished papers will be available in the Economics
Department Office. In addition, the following books are available for purchase at the Book
Store in the Kansas Union:
. Angus Maddison, Monitoring the World Economy, 1820-1992
. Douglass North, Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance
. Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches
. David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus
. Roderick Floud and Donald McCloskey, The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd
ed., vols. 1 & 2
. Barry Eichengreen, Golden Fetters
Course Requirements and Grading

Economics 766
Your grade in this course will be based on the quality and quantity of your class
participation during the semester, four short essays, and either a final research paper or a take-
home final exam. Students may elect either the research paper or final exam option. If you wish
to write a research paper, however, you must choose a topic in consultation with me no later than
October 1. I will assume that students who have not selected a topic by this date are planning to
pursue the final exam option. The weight of each component in your final grade will be as
follows:
Class participation 20%
Essays 40%
Exam or paper 40%
Essay Assignments
The objective of the essays is for you to explore the literature on a controversial topic in
economic history in some detail and reach a reasoned judgement regarding the evidence
presented by the contending sides. I do not expect you to write a great deal (each essay should be
only about 4 to 6 typed, double-spaced pages in length), but I expect that you will give the
issues raised your careful attention, and will think carefully about your argument. Your essays
should demonstrate that: (1) you clearly understand the various positions that are represented in
the
literature, (2) have identified the areas of agreement and disagreement between them, and (3)
have reached a well-reasoned opinion of your own on the issue.
Topics for the essays will be closely linked to the reading assignments for the class, but
will require you to go beyond the required reading for a particular subject. I will distribute a list
of possible topics and additional information about the details of the assignments early in the
semester.
Your grade on the essay assignments will be the average of the three best grades that you
receive. (In other words, I will drop the lowest essay grade that you receive, and use the
remaining three grades to calculate your grade on the essay assignments.)
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Economics 766
Course Outline and Reading List
I. Introduction to the Course (8/21)
II. Modern Economic Growth (8/26, 8/28)
Required
Angus Maddison, Monitoring the World Economy, 1820-1920, chs. 1-3
Robert E. Lucas, "On the Mechanics of Economic Development," Journal of Monetary
Economics 22 (1988), 3-42
III. Modes of Explanation (9/2, 9/4)
Required
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, Introduction
Douglass C. North, Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance (1990)
Paul A. David, Technological Choice, Innovation and Economic Growth, Introduction
Recommended
Brian W. Arthur, "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-in by
Historical Events," Economic Journal 99 (March 1989), pp. 116-31
S. J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, "The Fable of the Keys," Journal of Law and
Economics 33 (April 1990), 1-23
IV. The Industrial Revolution in Britain (9/9, 9/11)
Required
N. Crafts, "The Industrial Revolution," Chapter 3 of Floud and McCloskey, The
Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Volume 1
Joel Mokyr, "Editor's Introduction: The New Economic History and the Industrial
Revolution," in Joel Mokyr (ed.), The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic
Perspective, ch. 1
C. Knick Harley, "Reassessing the Industrial Revolution: A Macro View," in Joel Mokyr
(ed.), The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective, ch. 3
Recommended
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Economics 766
N. F. R. Crafts, British Economic Growth During the Industrial Revolution (1985), ch. 2
P. Dean and W. A. Cole, British Economic Growth 1688-1959, 2 nd ed. (1967), ch. 2
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, ch. 5
David Landes, "The Fable of the Dead Horse; or, The Industrial Revolution Revisited,"
in Joel Mokyr (ed.), The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective, ch. 2
Peter Temin, "Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution," Journal of Economic
History 57 (March 1997), 63-82
V. Explaining British Priority (9/16, 9/18)
Required
David S. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus (1969), chs. 1-2
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, ch. 10
N. F. R. Crafts, "Industrial Revolution in Britain and France: Some Thoughts on the
Question 'Why Was Britain First?'" in Joel Mokyr (ed.), The Economics of the Industrial
Revolution
Recommended
Joel Mokyr, "Demand Versus Supply in the Industrial Revolution," in Joel Mokyr (ed.),
The Economics of the Industrial Revolution
David Landes, "What Room for Accident in History? Explaining Big Changes by Small
Events," Economic History Review 47 (Nov. 1994), 637-56
Douglass C. North and Barry R. Weingast, "Constitutions and Commitment: The
Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England,"
Journal of Economic History 49 (Dec. 1989), 803-33
VI. The Antecedents of European Growth (9/23, 9/25)
Required
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, chs. 3-4
Nathan Rosenberg and L. E. Birdzell, How the West Grew Rich: The Economic
Transformation of the Industrial World (1986), chs. 3-4
William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power (1982), ch. 3
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Economics 766
Avner Greif, "On the Political Foundations of the Late Medieval Commercial
Revolution: Genoa in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries," Journal of Economic
History 54 (June 1994), 271-87
Recommended
George Grantham, "Contra Ricardo: The Macroeconomics of Pre-Industrial Agrarian
Economies," photocopy (August 1996)
Frances and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: A History of Medieval
Technology
Robert S. Lopez, The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, 950-1350 (1976), ch.
4
R. De Roover, "The Organization of Trade," in M. M. Postan and H. J. Habakkuk,
Cambridge Economic History of Europe, vol. 3 (1965)
Avner Greif, Paul Milgrom, and Barry Weingast, "Coordination, Commitment and
Enforcement: The Case of the Merchant Guild," Journal of Political Economy 102 (Aug.
1992)
VII. Comparative Perspectives on European Growth (9/30, 10/2)
Required
E. L. Jones, Growth Recurring
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, chs. 7, 9
Recommended
John P. Powelson, Centuries of Economic Endeavor (1994), chs. 1-6
VIII. The Diffusion of Economic Growth After the Industrial Revolution (10/7, 10/9)
Required
Stanley L. Engerman, "Mercantilism and Overseas Trade, 1700-1800," in R. Floud and
D. McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 1
Michael Edelstein, "Foreign Investment and Accumulation, 1860-1914," in R. Floud and
D. McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 2
Patrick O'Brien, "European Economic Development: The Contribution of the Periphery,"
Economic History Review 35 (Feb. 1982), 1-18
N. F. R. Crafts, British Economic Growth During the Industrial Revolution (1985), ch. 3
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Economics 766
Recommended
Kevin H. O'Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, "Around the European Periphery, 1870-
1913: Globalization, Schooling, and Growth," NBER working paper #5392 (December
1995)
Eric Wolf, Europe and the Peoples Without History, chs. 5-9, 11
IX. Industrialization in Europe and the United States (10/14, 10/16)
Required
David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus, ch. 3
David Hounshell, The American System of Mass Production, 1800-1932 (1984),
Introduction and ch. 1
Recommended
Carlo M. Cipolla (ed.), The Emergence of Industrial Societies, part 1, Volume 4 of the
Fontana Economic History of Europe ( 1973)
Paul A. David , Technological Choice, Innovation and Economic Growth, ch. 1
X. The Late Nineteenth Century (10/21, 10/23)
Required
Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. Scale and Scope (1990), chs. 1-4
Joel Mokyr, The Lever of Riches, ch. 6
Recommended
Nathan Rosenberg and L. E. Birdzell, Jr., How the West Grew Rich, chs 6-7
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Economics 766
XI. Changes in Productivity Leadership (10/28, 10/30)
Required
William Lazonick, "Employment Relations in Manufacturing and International
Competition," in R. Floud and D. McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain
Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 2
Robert Allen, "International Competition in Iron and Steel, 1850-1913," Journal of
Economic History 39 (1979)
Richard Nelson and Gavin Wright, "The Rise and Fall of American Technological
Leadership: The Postwar Era in Historical Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature
30 (Dec. 1992), 1931-1964
Moses Abramovitz, "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," Journal of
Economic History 46 (1986), 385-406
Recommended
Sidney Pollard, "Entrepreneurship, 1870-1914," in R. Floud and D. McCloskey (eds.),
The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 2
William Lazonick, "Industrial Organization and Technological Change: The Decline of
the British Cotton Industry," Business History Review 57 (1983), 195-236
Gregory Clark, "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed? Lessons from the Cotton
Mills," Journal of Economic History 47 (March 1987)
XII. The Place of Agriculture in the Onset of Modern Economic Growth (11/4, 11/6)
Required
Robert Allen, "Agriculture During the Industrial Revolution," in R. Floud and D.
McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 1
Gregory Clark, "The Economics of Exhaustion, The Postan Thesis, and the Agricultural
Revolution," Journal of Economic History 52 (March 1992), 61-84
George Grantham, "Agricultural Supply During the Industrial Revolution: French
Evidence and European Implications," Journal of Economic History 49 (March 1989),
43-72
Donald McCloskey, "English Open Fields as Behavior Towards Risk," Research in
Economic History (1975)
Recommended
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Economics 766
Gregory Clark, "Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, 1700-1850," in Joel Mokyr
(ed.), The British Industrial Revolution
Gregory Clark, "The Cost of Capital and Medieval Agricultural Technique,"
Explorations in Economic History 25 (1988), 265-94
Stefano Fenoaltea, "Risk, Transactions Costs, and the Organization of Medieval
Agriculture," Explorations in Economic History 13 (1976), 129-151
Robert Allen, "The Efficiency and Distributional Consequences of 18 th Century
Enclosures," Economic Journal (Dec. 1982)
XIII. Some Consequences of Industrialization (11/11, 11/13)
Required
Peter H. Lindert, "Unequal Living Standards," in R. Floud and D. McCloskey (eds.), The
Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol. 1
Peter H. Lindert and Jeffrey G. Williamson, "English Workers' Living Standards During
the Industrial Revolution: A New Look," Economic History Review 36 (Feb. 1983), 1-
25
Gregory Clark, "Factory Discipline," Journal of Economic History 54 (March 1994)
Recommended
Stephen Marglin, "What do Bosses do?" Review of Radical Political Economy (1974)
64-104
David Landes, "What do Bosses Really do? Journal of Economic History 46 (Sept.
1986), 585-74
E. P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism," Past and Present
56-97
XIV. Population and Economic Development (11/18, 11/20)
Required
David Weir, "Malthus's Theory of Population," in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of
Economics
Roger Schofield, "British Population Change, 1700-1871," in R. Floud and D.
McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, 2 nd ed., vol.
Cormac O Grada, Ireland: A New Economic History, chs. 4, 7, 8
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Economics 766
Recommended
Timothy Guinane, "Economics, History, and the Path of Demographic Adjustment:
Ireland after the Famine," Research in Economic History
Kevin O'Rourke, "Did the Great Irish Famine Matter?" Journal of Economic History 51
(Mar. 1991)
XV. Macroeconomic History: The Great Depression (11/25, 12/2, 12/4)
Required
Barry Eichengreen, Golden Fetters
Recommended
Richard Cooper, "The Gold Standard: Historical Facts and Future Prospects," Brookings
Papers (1982)
Charles Kindleberger, The World in Depression, revised ed. (1986)
Peter Temin, Lessons from the Great Depression (1990)
Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, ch. 7
Peter Temin, Did Monetary Forces Cause the Great Depression?
Daniel Benjamin and Levis Kochin, "Searching for an Explanation of Unemployment in
Interwar Britain," Journal of Political Economy 79 (1979), 441-78; and subsequent
discussion in Journal of Political Economy 92 (1982), 369-436
XVI. Wrap-Up (12/9)
Required
Robert M. Solow, "Economic History and Economics," American Economic Review 75
(May 1985), 328-31
Paul A. David, "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review 75
(May 1985), 332-37
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