Cambridge European Economic History. Volume 3. Economic Organizations and Economic Policies in the Middle Ages

Author: [British] Postan et al. [British] Postan et al. Volume Wang Chunfa et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: This volume, Economic Organizations and Economic Policy in the Middle Ages, analyzes the corresponding transformation and adjustment of economic organization methods and government policies as the field and focus of economic activities change. Broadly speaking, The Cambridge Economic History of Europe can be divided into three parts: First, the first three volumes constitute the first part of the book, primarily exploring the transition of the European economy from the Middle Ages to the modern era, i.e., what factors determined that the European economy, rather than other regions', was the first to complete the shift from an agrarian society to an industrial society, as well as the changes that occurred in different economic activity sectors during this transition. Among them, the first volume, Agricultural Life in the Middle Ages, explores the transformation process of agriculture and peasant life; the second volume, Trade and Industry in the Middle Ages, examines the channels and transformations of economic ties between different countries within Europe; the third volume, Economic Organizations and Economic Policy in the Middle Ages, analyzes the corresponding transformation and adjustment of economic organization methods and government policies as the field and focus of economic activities change. In fact, the very active new institutional economics has established its theoretical system by reinterpreting the economic transformation of Europe during this period. Second, the fourth and fifth volumes constitute the second part of the book, with the focus on Europe's external expansion as a whole in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Among them, the fourth volume, The Expanding European Economy in the 16th and 17th Centuries, primarily analyzes the external environment in which economic growth and development take place, such as population growth, scientific thought and achievements, prices, trade patterns and routes, labor supply, the formation of large-scale companies, and mercantilist theories and policies; the fifth volume, Economic Organizations in Early Modern Europe, primarily analyzes the core mechanisms of industrial production, credit mechanisms, international trade mechanisms, and the functions of the state as a producer, consumer, and fiscal authority. The author's arrangement of this content actually reflects the fact that the prominent position of European nations in the modern economy was established long before the start of industrialization. Merely from industrialization itself is not sufficient to explain why European nations dominated the development of the world economy for over three hundred years. Third, the third part of the book consists of the sixth, seventh, and eighth volumes, primarily studying and analyzing the historical development of Western countries, including the United States and Japan, since the Industrial Revolution. Among them, the sixth volume, The Industrial Revolution and Its Subsequent Economic Development: Income, Population, and Technological Change, focuses on analyzing the external factors of the Industrial Revolution; the seventh volume, Industrial Economy: Capital, Labor, and Enterprise, primarily analyzes the internal factors of modern industrial economic growth, such as the supply of capital, labor, and entrepreneurial resources, and is mainly analyzed by country, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Scandinavian countries, the United States, Japan, and Russia; the eighth volume, Industrial Economy: The Development of Economic Policy and Social Policy, primarily analyzes the socioeconomic policies of European nations since the Industrial Revolution and their evolution. Therefore, broadly speaking, these three volumes in this part primarily analyze the basic conditions of industrialization, growth factors, and changes in government policies.