Global Economic History (Econ 342)
This course is essentially an exploration of the economy before and after the Industrial Revolution, with much of the course focused on what caused to the Industrial Revolution to occur when it did and where it did. The course also considers the Great Divergence and the distribution of gains from industrialization. It is worth noting that while the title I inherited for the course was Global Economic History, the course is really closer to a European Economic History course with lectures only very occasionally touching on Asia, Africa and the Americas. Also worth noting is that the only prerequisites for this course are Introductory Micro and Macro.
I originally developed this course while teaching at UC Davis with much of its structure based off of Greg Clark's Global Economic History course and his book A Farewell to Alms. While the course has continued to evolve, it still borrows many elements from Clark's course.
Syllabus and Reading List
SyllabusReading List
Assignment Instructions
Homework Assignment GuidelinesData Project Guidelines
Data Project Slides
Referee Report Guidelines
Lecture Slides
Below are links to lecture slides for the class. Note that many of the slides may make zero sense without the context of what we were discussing in class. Hopefully they made some sense to students at the time. At the back of each set of slides are the various announcements made at the start of each class which may help make sense of how the readings and assignments fit into lectures. Also note that each link below is to a pdf file that covers several lectures' worth of slides. Some of the files are quite large.
Introduction
Accounting for Growth
The Malthusian Trap and Preindustrial Economies
The Industrial and Industrious Revolutions
The Demographic Transition
Institutions and Economic Development
Geography and Industrialization
Social Evolution and Economic Attitudes
The Great Divergence
The Distribution of Gains from Industrialization
Course Review
Exams
Spring, 2024: Midterm, FinalSpring, 2018: Midterm, Final
Spring, 2017: Midterm, Final
Fall, 2016: Midterm, Final
Spring, 2016: Midterm, Final
Fall, 2015: Midterm, Final
Fall, 2013: Midterm, Final