I am a Professor of Economics at UC-Davis. My main research area is long run economic growth, the wealth of nations, with particular focus on the economic history of England and India.
I teach undergraduate and graduate World Economic History, and help organize the economic history seminar. We have one of the strongest groups of economic historians in the world here. If you are interested in Economic History at Davis check the web sites of my colleagues Peter Lindert, Chris Meissner, and Alan Olmstead.
I grew up in Scotland, where one of my classmates at Holy Cross High was Donnie Burns, 14-time World Professional Latin American Dance Champion. My grandparents came from Ireland to work in the coal mines and steel mills of the Clyde Valley, as part of the great diaspora of the Irish triggered by Ireland’s failure to industrialize in the nineteenth century.
My path from the rain of the West of Scotland to the sunshine of Northern California was by way of degrees at King’s College, Cambridge, and Harvard, and faculty positions at Stanford and Michigan.
My office is 1137 Social Sciences and Humanities Building. To contact me stop by, call 530-574-7188, or send an e-mail.
