The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Great Divergence brings new insight to one of the classic questions of history: Why did sustained industrial growth begin in Northwest Europe, despite surprising similarities between advanced areas of Europe and East Asia? As Ken Pomeranz shows, as recently as 1750, parallels between these two parts of the world were very high in life expectancy, consumption, product and factor markets, and the strategies of households. Perhaps most surprisingly, Pomeranz demonstrates that the Chinese and Japanese cores were no worse off ecologically than Western Europe. Core areas throughout the eighteenth-century Old World faced comparable local shortages of land-intensive products, shortages that were only partly resolved by trade.
Pomeranz argues that Europe's nineteenth-century divergence from the Old World owes much to the fortunate location of coal, which substituted for timber. This made Europe's failure to use its land intensively much less of a problem, while allowing growth in energy-intensive industries. Another crucial difference that he notes has to do with trade. Fortuitous global conjunctures made the Americas a greater source of needed primary products for Europe than any Asian periphery. This allowed Northwest Europe to grow dramatically in population, specialize further in manufactures, and remove labor from the land, using increased imports rather than maximizing yields. Together, coal and the New World allowed Europe to grow along resource-intensive, labor-saving paths.
Meanwhile, Asia hit a cul-de-sac. Although the East Asian hinterlands boomed after 1750, both in population and in manufacturing, this growth prevented these peripheral regions from exporting vital resources to the cloth-producing Yangzi Delta. As a result, growth in the core of East Asia's economy essentially stopped, and what growth did exist was forced along labor-intensive, resource-saving paths--paths Europe could have been forced down, too, had it not been for favorable resource stocks from underground and overseas.
Kenneth Pomeranz
Kenneth Pomeranz is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine.
Read more from Kenneth Pomeranz
The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
Related to The Great Divergence
Titles in the series (42)
The Big Problem of Small Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strictures of Inheritance: The Dutch Economy in the Nineteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689–1900 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStates of Credit: Size, Power, and the Development of European Polities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cultures Merging: A Historical and Economic Critique of Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Understanding the Process of Economic Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFarm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Distant Tyranny: Markets, Power, and Backwardness in Spain, 1650-1800 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unsettled Account: The Evolution of Banking in the Industrialized World since 1800 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Winding Road to the Welfare State: Economic Insecurity and Social Welfare Policy in Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Creating Wine: The Emergence of a World Industry, 1840-1914 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Evolution of a Nation: How Geography and Law Shaped the American States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPower to the People: Energy in Europe over the Last Five Centuries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLending to the Borrower from Hell: Debt, Taxes, and Default in the Age of Philip II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Australia Prospered: The Shifting Sources of Economic Growth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cities of Commerce: The Institutional Foundations of International Trade in the Low Countries, 1250-1650 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Did Europe Conquer the World? Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Uneven Centuries: Economic Development of Turkey since 1820 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Roman Market Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brazil in Transition: Beliefs, Leadership, and Institutional Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
How the ThinkPad Changed the Worldâ€"and Is Shaping the Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Civil Servants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shaping the Future of Education: The ExoDexa Manifesto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Governance Gone Bad: How Nordic Adaptability Leads to Excess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Grand Strategy for America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of the Modern Australian University Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSteve Hannagan: Price of the Press Agents and Titan of Modern Public Relations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Democracy's Education: Public Work, Citizenship, and the Future of Colleges and Universities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of an Economist, Redux Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAcademic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great War and American Foreign Policy, 1914-24 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBack to Istanbul: On Foot across Europe to the Great Silk Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonuments and Memory-Making: The Debate over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1981-1982 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices of New China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Lies Ahead for America's Children and Their Schools Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Quest for Prosperity: How Developing Economies Can Take Off - Updated Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRevitalizing the Silk Road: China's Belt and Road Initiative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Ellen Jovin's Rebel with a Clause Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFailing in the Field: What We Can Learn When Field Research Goes Wrong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExplaining International Relations 1918-1939: A Students Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVillage Diary of a Heretic Banker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLive, Work and Play: A Centenary History of Welwyn Garden City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeadership in Turbulent Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Super Summary of Western History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Politicians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Modern History For You
The Devil's Notebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World War 1: A History From Beginning to End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/518 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Titanic Chronicles: A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night to Remember: The Sinking of the Titanic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What We Talk About When We Talk About God: A Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devils of Loudun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Great Divergence
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pomeranz de-centers Europe, in part by emphasizing “reciprocal comparisons between parts of Europe and parts of China, India and so on that seem…to have been similarly positioned within their continental worlds.” (10) The use of nations as the basis of analysis makes little sense, he suggests, when China was as large and populous as Europe, and the Yangzi Delta was equivalent in many ways to England. (13) “Our perception of an interacting system from which one part benefited more than others,” Pomeranz says, “does not in itself justify calling that part the ‘center’ and assuming that it is the unshaped shaper of everything else. We will see, instead, vectors of influence moving in various directions.” (10)
Pomeranz suggests that the timely discovery of America by Europeans provided them an opportunity to avoid moving onto the type of labor-intensive, land-scarce economic path taken by India and China. The discovery of coal was the other major element of the divergence, although in a very interesting aside, Pomeranz calls attention to the influence of the addictive New World stimulants sugar, tobacco, cocoa, and coffee, which along with tea became early mainstays of a mass consumer market. (281) Overall, he concludes that “forces outside the market and conjunctures beyond Europe deserve a central place in explaining why western Europe’s otherwise largely unexceptional core achieved unique breakthroughs and wound up as the privileged center of the nineteenth century’s new world economy.” (297)