Economic history Books

First Published in 2005. The following study analyses several sequences of differentiation and a attempt to apply social theory to history. Such an analysis naturally calls for two components: (1) a segment of social theory; and (2) an empirical instance...

This book examines the institutional adjustments in Southeast Asia since the economic crisis in 1997. It focuses on the determinants of the adjustments, implementation of the changes and the various differences between countries in the region.

Gender is rarely taken into account in analyses of the distribution of wealth, and the evidence on women's ownership of wealth is surprisingly scarce. It is important to examine the distribution of wealth by gender because gender is one important...

Ben Fine, the author of Social Capital versus Social Theory and a renowned exponent of Marxian political economy and Dimitris Milonakis offer one of the first systematic critiques of cliometrics, new institutional economics and Douglass North's work.

This book, which include articles from Tony Lawson, Ivor Grattan-Guinness and Roger Backhouse, highlights current notions of equilibrium in economics and provides a guide to understanding the links between economic theory and economic...

The well known economists Kurz and Salvadori cover original findings and new vistas on old problems including alternative interpretations of classical economics, new groth theory, Sraffian theory and Von Neumann and the treatment of capital.

Drawing on Kaleckian and Kaldorian approaches, this book explores the reasons behind the stagnation of the Italian economy from the 1970s, and suggests policy solutions to ease the crisis.

Throughout the eighteenth century hundreds of thousands of men and women were cast into prison for failing to pay their debts. This apparently illogical system where debtors were kept away from their places of work remained popular with creditors into...

Within Post-Keynesian economics there is a spectrum of approaches to theories of the firm but what they have in common, to their great benefit, is a proper integration of the concept of radical uncertainty: data that cannot be known. This book revisits...

This handbook presents a systematic and comprehensive overview of economic sociology, an exemplary interdisciplinary field which draws on theoretical frameworks and empirical findings from both economics and sociology to present a unique lens on the...

The Industrial Revolution is central to the teaching of economic history. It has also been key to historical research on the commercial expansion of Western Europe, the rise of factories, coal and iron production, the proletarianization of labour, and...

The 2008 crisis has revived debates on the relevance of laissez-faire, and thus on the role of the State in a modern economy. This volume offers a new exploration of the writings of Keynes and Friedman on this topic, highlighting not only the clear...

First published in 1975, this guide to economic policy outlines an economic philosophy for reform for the 'intelligent radical' who seeks to address the issues of liberty and equality within society. Among other issues, the book looks at policies to...

From his early economic works on, Marx conceived the labour of any kind of society as a set of production activities and analysed the historical modes of production as specific ways of distributing  and exchanging these activities. Political...

Leading economists including Ed Nell and Heinz Kurz have joined forces in this volume with internationally respected Japanese scholars to produce a strong collection of contributions to the debate on Keynes' monumental legacy.

The history of economic thought has always attracted some of the brightest minds in the discipline. These chroniclers of development have helped form our current views, and it is no surprise that many among them have been at the forefront of new...

Cartels, trusts and agreements to reduce competition between firms have existed for centuries, but became particularly prevalent toward the end of the 19th century. In the mid-20th century governments began to use so called 'cartel registers' to monitor...

The authors of this book argue that post-war fiscal and monetary policies in the U.S. are prone to more frequent and more destabilizing domestic and international financial crises. So, in the aftermath of the one that erupted in 2008, they propose that...

This volume brings together important articles from the Cambridge historian A. G. Hopkins and reflect the enlargement and evolution of historical studies during the last half century. The essays cover four of the principal historiographical developments...

This book examines Shanxi piaohao-private financiers from the Chinese hinterland-in the economic and business history of late imperial China, forming the original theory of Chinese hinterland capitalism.Deepening the existing understanding of capitalist...

This book, from a top group of international economists, analyzes the causes, consequences and evolution of the global financial crisis from a variety of post-Keynesian perspectives. It then presents a case for realistic and essential remedies. The book...

Written during the early 1920s, at a time when Europe was still recovering from the catastrophe of the First World War, L.V. Birck's The Scourge of Europe examines the economic issues surrounding the existence of public debt, its history, and possible...

This book is about mutual influences of thinking about economic development in China and in the West, from the 18th century until the present. Its chapters are contributed by development economists and historians of thought from China and other parts of...

First published in 1938 this Routledge Revival is a reissue of the autobiography of influential economist J. A. Hobson. A comprehensive work, it details many aspects of his life including his background, influences, ethicical...

As small, open economies the Nordic states have always been more dependent on foreign trade than larger powers, and have thus had a historic preference for free trade. But during the inter-war period the Nordic countries were squeezed between powerful...

This monograph brings to the fore the synergy between human evolution and economic and social progress. Secondly, it acknowledges the critical contributions from the routine adherence to contextual truth and contextual non-violence of humanity at large...

Delving into the history of economic thought, this book presents a picture of the Mediterranean spirit of capitalism, a tradition that has its protagonists in Thomas Aquinas and the eighteenth-century civil economy, and seeks to understand its presence...

Poverty in Contemporary Economic Thought aims to describe and critically examine how economic thought deals with poverty, including its causes, consequences, reduction and abolition. This edited volume traces the ideas of key writers and schools of...

The book is an economic history of the South Sea Bubble. It combines economic theory and quantitative analysis with historical evidence in order to provide a rounded account. It brings together scholarship from a variety of different fields to update the...

Today there are more technology, technologists, knowledge and experts than at any time in human history; but from a global perspective, it is difficult to argue that this accumulation of knowledge and technology has put the world in an unambiguously...

Money is usually understood as a valuable object, the value of which is attributed to it by its users and which other users recognize. It serves to link disparate institutions, providing a disguised whole and prime tool for the "invisible hand" of the...

Starting with Medici and Fugger and ending with Barings and Royal Bank of Scotland under neo-liberal de-regulation, the author gives an account of how a number of banks failed over a 500 year-period. The author offers an explanation of the leading ideas...

The Oxford Companion to Scottish History interprets history broadly, including archaeology, architecture, climate, culture, folk belief, geology, and the langauages of Scotland. It covers more than 20 centuries of history, including immigrants, migrants,...

Developmental Macroeconomics: Access to Demand, the Exchange Rate and Growth offers a new approach to development economics and macroeconomics. It is a Keynesian-structuralist approach to economics applied to middle income countries that emphasizes the...

The United States embargo against Cuba was imposed over fifty years ago initially as a response to the new revolutionary government's seizure of US properties, which was viewed by the US as a violation of international law. However, while sanctions can...

Fifty Major Economists provides an introduction to the life, work and ideas of the people who have shaped the economic landscape from the seventeenth century to the present day. For this third edition, the book has been thoroughly revised and...

This is a book about one of the most controversial concepts in economics: the invisible hand. The author explores the unintended social consequences implied by the invisible hand and discusses the mechanisms that bring about these consequences.The book...

Comprehensive and authoritative, this book, written by a recognized authority on the subject explores the contributions to modern economics by John Maynard Keynes and addresses neglected, yet crucial aspects of the genesis of Keynesian economics.In this...

In 1878 Karl Marx developed the reproduction schema: his model of how total capital is produced and reproduced. This is thought to be the first two-sector economic model ever constructed. Two key aspects of Marx's writings are widely agreed to be...

Hume's Political Discourses (1752) won immediate acclaim and positioned him as an authoritative figure on the subject of political economy. This volume of thirteen new essays definitively establishes the central place of political economy in Hume's...

Perrotta explores and charts the changing place of consumption as a source of investment in production and growth within economic writings from ancient history to the present. This ambitious project is carried out with great skill, vigour and originality...

This handbook presents comprehensive theoretical, empirical and historical accounts of the political economy of informal work from the late twentieth century to the present. It examines the rich and varied analysis and critique of the informalization of...