Wealth of a Nation
Published 2023
Tej Parikh, review in the Financial Times, as one of the "10 Best New Books in Economics" in 2023.
Review by Giampaolo Conte
in The Journal of European Economic History:
"Geoffrey M. Hodgson’s book is a groundbreaking, in-depth analysis of the ever-discussed history of English capitalism. Well-written and accessible even to broader readers, the book contributes actively to the ongoing debate about the rise of modern capitalism in Europe and worldwide."
Review by Mark Koyama
in Independent Review:
"But until now we did not have a compelling and detailed account of institutional development in England over the long durée. Geoffrey Hodgson is well placed to provide such a synthesis. ... The Wealth of a Nation
provides a non-teleological and historically grounded account of the slow, often haphazard institutional development of the English economy from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution and beyond. ... Hodgson’s book will be extremely useful for scholars of England’s economic and political development. Historians should read and engage with it to see how scholars in institutional economics have wrestled with the problems and questions thrown up by English history. Economists should read it to get a sense of the how messy and detailed the process of institutional change can be. It does a great job both summarizing the voluminous literature of the past three decades on the development of financial and political institutions in England before the Industrial Revolution, and in presenting the author’s own nuanced and sophisticated position."
Review by Mugur Tolici, in Central Banking:
"Hodgson’s analysis emphasises the transformative impact of major historical disturbances on England’s institutional frameworks and economic development ... provides a deep understanding of the dynamic interplay between historical disruptions and institutional evolution, enriching our comprehension of the foundational elements of English capitalism ... a substantial contribution to the field of economic history, providing a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between state power, military needs, financial innovations and the institutional foundations of capitalism. His insights offer valuable lessons on the dynamics of institutional change, emphasising the need for a holistic approach to understanding economic history and its implications for contemporary economic policy and theory. This book is a crucial resource for scholars, policy-makers, and anyone interested in the mechanisms of economic and institutional evolution."
Other Comments
“Geoffrey Hodgson’s history of capitalism is as rich and wide-ranging as the phenomenon it sets out to explain. Recentering critical developments in money and finance, The Wealth of a Nation
illuminates the dramatic and distinctive quality of our modern political economy.”
— Christine Desan, Harvard Law School
“Hodgson gives us a fresh and thoughtful take on a central question in economic history—why Britain developed first. He steers clear of monocausal explanations, gives due weight to both market and state, and makes important points about how institutions compete and adapt.”
“Hodgson gives us a fresh and thoughtful take on a central question in economic history—why Britain developed first. He steers clear of monocausal explanations, gives due weight to both market and state, and makes important points about how institutions compete and adapt.”
— Sheilagh Ogilvie, University of Oxford, author of The European Guilds: An Economic Analysis
“Hodgson provides a much-needed critical synthesis of the many disparate theories about England’s early economic rise and an entirely new take on the emergence of capitalism more broadly. His insights bring intellectual clarity to the notion of capital that economists and social scientists have been craving. This foundational and very readable work will influence generations of scholars and students.”
“Hodgson provides a much-needed critical synthesis of the many disparate theories about England’s early economic rise and an entirely new take on the emergence of capitalism more broadly. His insights bring intellectual clarity to the notion of capital that economists and social scientists have been craving. This foundational and very readable work will influence generations of scholars and students.”
— Peter Grajzl, Washington and Lee University
“A compelling overview of British economic history emphasizing how important it is to analyze institutional development using an evolutionary framework. Students and scholars alike have much to learn from Geoffrey Hodgson.”
“A compelling overview of British economic history emphasizing how important it is to analyze institutional development using an evolutionary framework. Students and scholars alike have much to learn from Geoffrey Hodgson.”
— Peter Murrell, University of Maryland
“In the course of the eighteenth century, a paradigm shift in the order of English economic life occurred. New financial institutions emerged from the exigencies of war making and imperial expansion — institutions that would help usher in modern industrial capitalism. Offering a powerful rethinking of one of the core questions of human history, Hodgson bridges the divide between economics and history in a dazzling display of historical detail and theoretical reflection. A must-read for anyone interested in economic history.”
“In the course of the eighteenth century, a paradigm shift in the order of English economic life occurred. New financial institutions emerged from the exigencies of war making and imperial expansion — institutions that would help usher in modern industrial capitalism. Offering a powerful rethinking of one of the core questions of human history, Hodgson bridges the divide between economics and history in a dazzling display of historical detail and theoretical reflection. A must-read for anyone interested in economic history.”
— Sven Beckert, Harvard University, author of Empire of Cotton
Publisher's Outline
Offering new perspectives on the early history of capitalism, Geoffrey Hodgson describes how, for the emerging British economy, pressures from without were as important as evolution from within. He shows how intensive military conflicts overseas forced the state to undertake major financial, administrative, legal, and political reforms. The resulting institutional changes not only bolstered the British war machine—they fostered the Industrial Revolution. Hodgson traces how Britain’s war capitalism led to an expansion of its empire and a staggering increase in the slave trade, and how the institutional innovations that radically transformed the British economy were copied and adapted by countries around the world.
A landmark work of scholarship, The Wealth of a Nation sheds light on how external factors such as war gave rise to institutional arrangements that facilitated finance, banking, and investment, and offers a conceptual framework for further research into the origins and consolidation of capitalism in England.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Preface
Introduction
Part I: Some prominent explanatory frameworks
1. Karl Marx's theory of history
2. More explanations: technology, religion, ideas, culture
2. More explanations: technology, religion, ideas, culture
Part II: Explaining England's economic development
3. Land, law and war
4. From the Glorious to the Industrial Revolution
5. Finance and industrialization
4. From the Glorious to the Industrial Revolution
5. Finance and industrialization
Part III: Legal institutionalism and the lessons of history
6. Agency, institutions and their evolution
7. A comparison with Japan and concluding remarks on economic development
References
7. A comparison with Japan and concluding remarks on economic development
References