Course 2008-2009 a.y.

Course Objectives

The aim of  this course is to provide the student with a broad understanding of the evolution of the world economy with special attention to Europe. The development of the European economy is analyzed considering institutional, social and cultural factors and by using a historical approach. The European case is considered in a broad comparative perspective: in addition to Europe and its American "appendices", the units of analysis are the great world civilizations - China and the Far East, India, the Muslim world. The main objective of the course is to stress that the "wealth and poverty of nations" are unquestionably shaped by institutional and socio-economical elements.

Course Content Summary

• Europe from periphery to supremacy: the revolution of world equilibrium between 1000 and 1500
• Europe's attempt to conquer the world: an assessment of costs and benefits
• The revolution of the European equilibrium between 1500 and 1700: Catholics and Protestants
• The Industrial Revolution: definitions and disputes
• The Industrial Revolution and local contexts
• Knowledge, finance and progress
• The great civilizations and the challenges of Modernization
• Winners and losers in the Twentieth century
• Globalization: convergence and divergence

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

The exam is written.

Textbooks

• D. S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, New York, Norton,  1999.