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A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World
- Article from:
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Freeman
- Article date:
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July 1, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright Foundation for Economic Education, Incorporated Jul/Aug 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World by Gregory Clark Princeton University Press * 2007 * 420 pages * $29.95
Reviewed by Gene Callahan
Economic historian Gregory Clark has written a fascinating book offering a serious challenge to the currently predominant explanation of why, beginning around 1800, "Western" societies have experienced a rate of economic growth never before seen in history. Clark supports his case with an impressive body of empirical evidence, making his challenge impossible to ignore.
Contemporary economists commonly propose that the West experienced its recent, unprecedented growth because there alone people finally hit upon the "right" institutions to ...