Millennium History of the World Economy

Author: (USA) Angus Maddison
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: Angus Maddison has served as an economic advisor to governments in many countries, including Brazil, Ghana, Greece, and Pakistan. Due to his research interests, he has visited numerous developing countries. His current main research interest lies in the factors influencing long-term economic development in various countries, with a focus on quantitative analysis of economic history and international comparisons. Professor Maddison himself has written and co-authored approximately 30 books and has published a large number of academic papers. This book uses about half of its pages to provide a detailed report on data processing and computational results to support the author's new findings and perspectives. Of course, this may only suit readers with research interests. However, I believe that readers will find the case studies of some countries in the main text of the book particularly engaging, not only highly readable but also highly inspiring. For example, why did the Netherlands once have the highest productivity in Europe? Why do China and Japan, which share deep cultural ties, exhibit significant differences in economic development? And why did the British North American colonies give rise to a economically powerful United States, while the Spanish North American colonies led to the eventual decline of Mexico?