Long-Run Economic Change

The study of long-run economic change concerns itself with two questions: Why do certain economies persistently perform more successfully than others? and How is leadership in the world economy achieved and maintained? How, for example, did the United States attain its current place in the global economy, and will it be able to hold on to that position indefinitely? What are the futures of the Asian Tigers and Australia in the world economy? These and similar questions have attracted the attention of some of the world's leading economists. Recent research, for example, by the Nobel prize laureate Douglas North, has illustrated the importance of institutions to both economic growth and policy performance, especially over the longer term. The aim of this subject is to introduce you to this literature as well as to other fundamental issues of long-run economic change. You will carefully examine different approaches to long-run economic analysis and assess each in light of the available evidence. On successful completion of this subject you should be able to explain and describe the pattern of long-term economic growth, leadership and decline in the world economy since the industrial revolution; evaluate the role of culture, institutions and the environment in economic change; and apply the methods of historical economics to contemporary economic debates.