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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor

DAVID S. LANDES

W. W. NORTON & COMPANY New York London

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Copyright © 1999, 1998 by David S. Landes

All rights reserved First published as a Norton 1999

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue,

New York, NY 10110.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Landes, David S. The wealth and poverty of nations: why some are so rich and some

so poor / by David S. Landes. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 978-0-393-04017-3

1. Wealth—Europe—History. 2. Wealth—History. 3. Poverty— Europe—History. 4. Poverty—History. 5. Regional economic

disparities—History. 6. Economic history. 7. Economic development—Social aspects. I. Title.

HC240.Z9W45 1998 330.1’6—dc21 97-27508

CIP

ISBN 978-0-393-06981-5 (e-book)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS

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http://www.wwnorton.com
Praise for The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

“Truly wonderful. No question that this will establish David Landes as preeminent in his field and in his time.”

—John Kenneth Galbraith

“David Landes’s new historical study of the emergence of the current distribution of wealth and poverty among the nations of the world is a picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight. The sense of historical contingency does not detract from the emergence of repeated themes in the encounters which led to European economic leadership. The incredible wealth of learning is embodied in a light and vigorous prose which carries the reader along irresistibly.”

—Kenneth Arrow

“David Landes has written a masterly survey of the great successes and failures among the world’s historic economies. He does it with verve, broad vision, and a whole series of sharp opinions that he is not shy about stating plainly. Anyone who thinks that a society’s economic success is independent of its moral and cultural imperatives obviously has another think coming.”

—Robert Solow

“Mr. Landes writes with verve and gusto…. This is indeed good history.” —Douglass C. North, Wall Street Journal

“You cannot even begin to think about problems of economic development and convergence without knowing the story that Landes tells…. I know of no better place to start thinking about the wealth and poverty of nations.”

—J. Bradford DeLong, Washington Post

“Enormously erudite and provocative…. Never less than scintillating, witty, and brilliant.”

—Kirkus Reviews

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Also by DAVID S. LANDES

BANKERS AND PASHAS THE UNBOUND PROMETHEUS

REVOLUTION IN TIME

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For my children and grandchildren, with love.

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…the causes of the wealth and poverty of nations—the grand object of all enquiries in Political Economy.

—Malthus to Ricardo, letter of 26 January 1817*

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Contents

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION