The Mastery of Nature: A Brief Economic History of the World

Text. The “text” for this course is Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton University Press, 2007). We will read a portion of Clark’s book every week in order to understand how economic historians think about the big issues of growth, stagnation, development and underdevelopment in the very long run. This book will be supplemented by other readings. Students will be aware that there are two kinds of textbooks. First, those in which the author purportedly suppresses his personal opinions and provides a digest of “the facts” as they are understood by scholars. Second, those in which an opinionated author alerts his readers to unsettled controversies and prompts further reflection. Clark’s book is the second sort. Students should not expect to find conventional wisdom and easy answers. But those who bear with it will be stimulated to think further. A Farewell to Alms is for sale at the ASUC store and your favorite on-line bookseller and is on reserve at Moffitt.