Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History

Angus Maddison gives a fantastic perspective of how the World economy has progressed over the past 2 odd thousand years. It takes some research to have written such a book.For anyone who wants to know how the World has evolved this could be a good starting point.However there are two areas where I felt the author could have done a better job1. In the context of India – probably I understand pretty OK – I was saddened to see the history seems to have started and stopped with the Mughals and the British; India has much more to offer and quite old that the perspective was missed out on. Also, mentioning how India in all probability could have been worse off had the British not invaded is a bit disappointing2. The macro-economic section while interesting I thought could have been avoided as it did not fit in well

I looked for some information that will be useful for investment decisions. Can not say that the book is useful in that regard other that it offer a glimpse to the thought processes of the conservative British economist.

Greet book!

Excellent review of waht happened to the economy along the history.It's a classic book and all economist slould read it to undestand better the economy nowdays

A useful set of essays from the distinguished economic historian Angus Maddison. The best parts of this book are the numerous data tables and charts examining various aspects of economic history. Included are essays on the demography and economy of the Roman empire, the revival of the Western European economy in the age of mercantile capitalism, the effects of expanding trade with Europe on Asia, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, an assessment of the sources of the industrial revolution, an essay on pioneers in demography and accounting for national economic activity, and some projections for the future. Each essay, except the one on the early British pioneers of demography and national economic accounting, are essentially a concise text built around presentation of data on demography, economic activity, trade, etc. A great deal of this data is quite valuable. Estimates of population and trade in the Roman empire, the magnitude of the African slave trades across the Atlantic and to the Moslem world, the amount of silver transferred from Europe (originally from the Western Hemisphere), and many other important features of world economic history are included. These datasets are fascinating reading. The accompanying texts are a bit uneven. Generally, these are solid descriptions of major trends and facts but Maddison is not always a careful writer and some of his facts are wrong. The description of the Roman army, for example, is the army of the late Republic and early Principate, not the army of the later Roman Empire. Another example would be his underestimate of the number of deaths associated with the failure of the coup attempt in mid-1960s Indonesia. In some of his discussions of controversial issues, such as the origins of the industrial revolution, I'm not sure he is fair to some of the people he criticizes and he may exaggerate the differences between western Europe and China in some respects. His discussion of global warming is relatively superficial and he gives too much weight to skepticism about IPCC estimates of CO2 release and its probable effects. In fact, these estimates have been generally conservative underestimates. For a recent concise overview of this topic, see the recent article by James McCarthy in Science and for a good discussion of the economics, see the recent book by Nicholas Stern.

This is a great book, rich in facts and historical stories. The book is a series of essays about how the world got to be where it is. Much of the book covers the last 500 years and the big changes. He focus mostly on government policy, technology, and the macroeconomy. The book is a great starting point to learn even more about world history. You read about some historical period or event mentioned in passing and can end up spending hours researching some fascinating things. For example he referenced different European explorers who traveled around Africa and that lead me to discover the fascinating first hand accounts of Mungo Park.Maddison does a great thing by occasionally talking about actual people and episodes in world history that might constitute "human interest stories". I was particuly interested in the Moroccan King Ismail Ibn Sharif and his 150K soldier slaves, Mediterranean piracy, and 500+ male offspring. Otherwise the book does a good job telling history in broad strokes without generalizing.

The media could not be loaded.  Excellent compilation of comparative political economy of ancient -medieval powers

The book gives a good overlay of history and its economic drivers. I liked the fact that it was comprehensive and ambitious in scope. Some of the historical context was a little light and unrelated to the economics of the time, but useful if you do not have a grounding in history. For me the book lacked some analysis in parts, and drifted in to description. However overall it is a fine piece of work of great breadth.

A good thumb-nail sketch of world history as well as some interesting insights into the economic history of world regions. Would have liked more data on income inequality over time (estimated GINI), but I suspect the research hasn't been done yet!

Maddison se livre à une tentative de synthèse de ce que l'on sait sur le bien-être (dans son approximation ultra rustique du PIB / hab, mais comme on ne sait pas faire mieux....) dans le temps et l'espace. La tache proposée est titanesque. Cet ouvrage pose des jalons dont la connaissance semble indispensable à l'"honnête homme" du XXIème siècle. Le lecteur sera peut-être déçu de voir qu'un grand spécialiste comme Maddison en sait finalement si peu. Mais les éléments de réflexion apportés en creux par le livre sur les difficultés d'estimation d'un PIB valent à eux seuls l'effort (de réflexion, car la lecture est toujours plaisante) nécessaire pour se plonger dans ce livre.

Great collection of essays on world economy. Excellent author. Well written and well made. Meet all my expectations. Thank you.