British Economic Growth, 1270–1870

This is the first systematic quantitative account of British economic growth from the thirteenth century to the Industrial Revolution.

Stephen Broadberry (Author), Bruce M. S. Campbell (Author), Alexander Klein (Author), Mark Overton (Author), Bas van Leeuwen (Author)

9781107070783, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 January 2015

502 pages, 46 b/w illus. 96 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.91 kg

'British Economic Growth is the collective work of a remarkable international group of economic historians … It is an attempt to reconstruct England's and Britain's national income accounts from 1270 to 1870 and to reveal the origins of Britain's modern economic growth. … a remarkable achievement, which transforms our understanding of Britain's rise to economic supremacy. … This landmark in British and international economic history is recommended to both experts and all those who are interested in the interrelationships between history and economic development.' György Borus, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies

This is a definitive new account of Britain's economic evolution from a backwater of Europe in 1270 to the hub of the global economy in 1870. A team of leading economic historians reconstruct Britain's national accounts for the first time right back into the thirteenth century to show what really happened quantitatively during the centuries leading up to the Industrial Revolution. Contrary to traditional views of the earlier period as one of Malthusian stagnation, they reveal how the transition to modern economic growth built on the earlier foundations of a persistent upward trend in GDP per capita which doubled between 1270 and 1700. Featuring comprehensive estimates of population, land use, agricultural production, industrial and service-sector production and GDP per capita, as well as analysis of their implications, this will be an essential reference for anyone interested in British economic history and the origins of modern economic growth more generally.

Part I. Measuring Economic Growth
Section 1. Population
Part II. Analysing Economic Growth
Section 1. Real-Wage-Rates and GDP Per Head.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Economic growth [KCG], British & Irish history [HBJD1]