Gregory Clark                                                                                                                                                 ECN 110A, Winter 2012

1137 Social Science and Humanities                                                                                                              Wellman 2, MWF 8:00-8:50

(gclark@ucdavis.edu)                                                                                                                                     Office Hours:  M, Wed 1:00-2:30

http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/teaching.html           

                                               

 

TAs:  Kelly Erickson [keerickson@ucdavis.edu]                    Max Hao [maxhao@ucdavis.edu]

 

 

ECN 110A - World Economic History – Pre-History to Industrial Revolution

 

DESCRIPTION

 

       This course details the nature and development of economies from pre-history to the Industrial Revolution.  It explains how this was dramatically different from modern economies.   Finally it considers what caused the Industrial Revolution, why it was in Europe, and why it was delayed till 1800.

 

SCHEDULE

 

       Below is the schedule for the quarter.   Because of a shortage of large lecture rooms this class has to be offered at 8 am, not a favored time for most of you.  The lectures from this class in Spring 2009 were videotaped.  These lectures are at iTunes University, and cover all the material for this quarter (except for one lecture).  Thus you can take the class without having to attend the 8 am lectures.  However, to encourage you to keep up with the lectures there will be a weekly short quiz in the TA sections.

 

 

 

Date

Day in Week

Lecture  at iTunes

 

Chapter

 

 

 

 

Jan 9

Mon

Introduction

1

Jan 11

Wed

Logic of Malthusian Model

2

Jan 13

Fri

Logic of Malthusian Model

2

Jan 16

MLK Day

------

-

Jan 18

Wed

Logic of Malthusian Model

2

Jan 20

Fri

Logic of Malthusian Model

2

Jan 23

Mon

Living Standards Before 1800

3

Jan 25

Wed

Living Standards Before 1800

3

Jan 27

Fri

Fertility in the Pre-Industrial World

4

Jan 30

Mon

Fertility in the Pre-Industrial World

4

Feb 1

Wed

Survival of the Richest

6

Feb 3

Fri

Survival of the Richest

6

Feb 6

Mon

Mortality in the Pre-Industrial World

5

Feb 8

Wed

Slow Technological Advance pre 1800

7

Date

Day in Week

Lecture  at iTunes

 

Chapter

Feb 10

Fri

Institutions and Technological Advance

8

Feb 13

Mon

The Myth of Institutional Barriers

8

Feb 15

Wed

Social Mobility

-

Feb 17

Fri

MIDTERM

-

Feb 20

Presidents’ Day

------

-

Feb 22

Wed

The Emergence of Modern Man

9

Feb 24

Fri

The Emergence of Modern Man

9

Feb 27

Mon

Culture and Modern Growth

9

 Feb 29

Wed

Modern Growth

10

Mar 2

No Class

------

-

Mar 5

Mon

Modern Growth

10

Mar 7

Wed

Why was the Industrial Revolution delayed 100,000 years?

11

Mar 9

Fri

Theories of the Industrial Revolution

11

Mar 12

Mon

Theories of the Industrial Revolution

11

Mar 14

Wed

The English Industrial Revolution

12

Mar 16

Fri

The English Industrial Revolution

12

Mar 19

Mon

England and Theories of Growth

13

Mar 21

Wed

Review  (TBA)

-

Mar 24

Sat

Final, 8-10    (Sample Final)

 

-

 

 

 

READINGS

 

       The text is my book, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World (Princeton University Press, 2007).  There will also be weekly supplementary readings available as links to the syllabus on my web site.  Some will be on more technical material, such as mathematical models of growth.  Others will be case studies illustrating points in the book. 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

 

       There will be 8 short quizzes in the TA sections, a midterm, and a final.  Anyone registered for the course has to be available for the midterms and final as scheduled.  The grade for the class will be:

 

       Quizzes  - 30%            Midterm  - 20%           Final - 50%

 

By Economics Department policy the class average GPA will be 2.7.

PROBLEM SETS

Problems on each chapter will be posted through the links below.  The TAs will go over these questions as well as the supplementary material in the review sections.

OUTLINE

 

Ch

Topic

Pages

1.

Introduction

Jared Diamond – The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race

1-18

 

 

 

The Malthusian Trap: Economic Life to 1800

2.

The Logic of the Malthusian Economy  Questions on Chapter 2

Caplan Critiques the Malthusian Model  Clark Responds

Caplan Second Round Clark Second Round

19-39

3.

Material Living Standards  Questions on Chapter 3

Bessino and Ma on Japan  Allen (pp 1-6)

40-70

4.

Fertility    Questions on Chapter 4

71-90

5.

Life Expectancy   Questions of Chapter 5

91-111

6.

Malthus and Darwin: Survival of the Richest    Questions of Chapter 6

Surnames, Genetic Selection and Social Mobility

112-132

7.

Technological Advance  Growth Accounting

133-144

8.

Institutions  Malawi vs Sweden  North and Thomas  North and Weingast

145-165

9.

The Emergence of Modern Man

166-192

 

 

 

The Industrial Revolution

10.

Modern Growth: the Wealth of Nations  Growth Accounting

193-207

11.

The Problem of the Industrial Revolution

208-229

12.

The English Industrial Revolution

230-258

13

Why England? Why not China, Japan, or India?

259-271

14

Social Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

Questions on Chapter 14

272-302