#802 Jared Rubin - How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth
RECORDED ON MARCH 8th 2023.
Dr. Jared Rubin is Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society at Chapman University. Dr. Rubin is an economic historian interested in the political and religious economies of the Middle East and Western Europe. His research focuses on historical relationships between political and religious institutions and their role in economic development. He is the author, together with Mark Koyama, of How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth.
In this episode, we focus on How the World Became Rich. We start by talking about how rich the world is now, and we also define economic growth. We then go through different explanations for sustained economic growth, including geography, institutions, culture, demographics, and colonization. We also discuss technology, and ethnic homogeneity. In regards to colonization, we discuss the impact it had both on the economies of the colonizer and the colonized countries. We talk about how sustained economic growth was possible in northwestern Europe, and what led to the British industrial revolution. We talk about why China did not get there first. Finally, we discuss some of the drawbacks to economic growth, including climate change, deadly weapons, and economic inequality.
Time Links:
Intro
How rich the world is now compared to the past
What is economic growth?
Explanations to the origins of sustained economic growth: geography
Institutions
Culture
Ethnic homogeneity
Demographics
Colonization
Did colonization have any positive impact on the economies of former colonies?
What to make of all these explanations
How sustained economic growth was possible in northwestern Europe, and what led to the British industrial revolution
Why China did not get there first
The drawbacks to economic growth: climate change, deadly weapons, and economic inequality
Follow Dr. Rubin’s work!
Follow Dr. Rubin’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3W8eteJ
Website: https://bit.ly/3Wb3XTV
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3vy1Gpv
How the World Became Rich: https://bit.ly/3Q3bUry