Presidential Address: Questions About China's Early Modern Economic History That I Wish I Could Answer

1992 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Feuerwerker
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic

I am greatly honored to have had the opportunity to serve as president of the Association for Asian Studies during the past year, and I am cognizant of the distinction of this afternoon's occasion. This being Washington, where everything is “political”—even more so perhaps than in Beijing—my original thought was to deliver a political sermon on a theme something like “Bush in China.” In fact, I found a possible text for my homily: a book published in Philadelphia in 1865 by a Presbyterian minister, Charles P. Bush, entitledFive Years in China; or, The Factory Boy Made a Missionary: The Life and Observations of Rev. W. Aitchison. But the Reverend Mr. Bush's hagiographical account of the life of William Aitchison, once a missionary to heathen China, was of little help; and I quickly decided that my talents as a fabulist of this variety were exceedingly limited. Hence the quite different fables to which I shall expose you today.

The Presidential Address: A Case for Asian Studies

1973 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Educational System ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Global Space ◽  
Intellectual Heritage ◽  
Convergence Of Cultures

There has always been a sizeable gap between public and national interests and needs and the capacities of a society's educational system to respond adequately thereto. Both teaching and scholarship are by their very nature conserving disciplines heavily involved with the preservation, elaboration, and passing on of a heritage of experience and knowledge acquired over great lengths of time. When one considers the degree to which our own national intellectual heritage is derived from the classical and Judaeo-Christian traditions, therefore, it is not at all surprising that our educational system should be profoundly Eurocentric in both form and content. But if it should persist in so confining a bias at a time when the central tendencies of the major technological, economic, and political developments of the past several centuries have been the compacting of global space, the convergence of cultures, and the emergence to positions of increasing salience and importance of an ever-expanding array of non-Western people, states, and interests, is this not cause for serious national concern?

Manufacturing Growth and Structural Change in American Economic History

2018 ◽  
pp. 182-212
Author(s):  
Changkeun Lee ◽  
Paul W. Rhode
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Manufacturing Growth ◽  
Industrial Revolutions

Over past 200 years, industrialization was the driving force in the economic development of most nations experiencing “modern economic growth.” Industrial activity generally expanded faster than the economy as a whole, and the sector grew to account for sizable shares of output, employment, and trade. Manufacturing activities have generally experienced faster rates of productivity growth than the economy as a whole and the sector has often paid higher labor wages. Manufacturing also contributes materiel and technology for military purposes. For these reasons, policymakers and the public have long viewed manufacturing as being of greater importance than other activities. This chapter surveys growth and structural change in the American manufacturing sector over the past 200 years. It chronicles the sector’s transformation during the first (1810–1860), second (1870–1920), and third (1970–present) industrial revolutions. It examines the forces, such as globalization, information technologies, and deindustrialization, shaping the sector today.

Agenda for Early Modern Economic History

1971 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry A. Miskimin
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Program Committee ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
City States

It is graceless, perhaps, to begin by quarrelling with the program committee in my initial remarks, but I must plead that the assignment itself—to propose an agenda for early modern economic history—provides a mandate for such seemingly uncouth behavior. The controversial issue, of course, is the periodization of economic history into the traditional Middle Ages (pre-1500) and the Early Modern Period (post-1500). The division has never been sharp in political or intellectual history, but it is even less meaningful in economic history—there is no single, dramatic, economic event, no ninety-five theses, to establish a break—and the intellectual consequences of the division at 1500 have often been pernicious. When specialists of the early modern period assert nascent capitalism, medievalists point to thirteenth century Italy. When early modernists lay their claims to discovery and colonization, medievalists point first to the early eastern Mediterranean colonies of the Italian city-states and then to the Atlantic explorations of Spain and Portugal, begun in the fourteenth century. If rapid early modern economic growth is the issue, the medievalist will again cry foul and recall that growth was, at least in part, merely the inevitable recovery from the economic collapse of the later middle ages.

Early Modern Economic History In The Long Run

2004 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bin Wong ◽  
Ajit Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Modern Economic

Historia magistra vitae – ad acta oder ad nauseam?

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-714
Author(s):  
Philipp Robinson Rössner
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Free Markets ◽  
History Of Capitalism ◽  
Economic Divergence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
The Right

Summary Historia magistra vitae – ad acta or ad nauseam? Early Modern Research and Economic History in the Age of Neoliberalism und Trump (1973 – 2018) Recent decades have seen the rise of neoliberal interpretations in the economic history of capitalism, development and economic growth. Free trade and free markets are said to have been the epitome of good economic development, whilst protectionism and mercantilism are seen as the antinomy of economic modernity. The economic history of early modern Europe, including processes of global economic divergence have often been written accordingly. The present paper, whilst not laying any judgemental claims to the right or wrongs of neoliberalism, wishes to trace the influence of neoliberal philosophy on writing early modern economic histories and the history of capitalism. It studies some of its most obvious implications, including Eurocentrism, economic determinism and the new historical materialism inherent in cliometrics and the New Economic History as it emerged in the 1960 s and 1970 s in the West.

Modalities of the Fiscal State in Imperial China

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Richard von Glahn
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
The Past ◽  
Administrative Efficiency ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
Fiscal State ◽  
Chinese Empire

AbstractIn the past two decades, increasing attention has been paid to the significance of the fiscal capacity of the premodern state to promote or retard economic growth. In particular, scholarship on economic history has stressed the positive impact the emergence of the “fiscal state” had in enhancing economic growth in early modern Europe. Comparative studies have contrasted the administrative efficiency of the emerging European fiscal state with contemporary Asian empires (the Ottomans, Mughals, and the Ming and Qing empires in China). But the Ming-Qing state represents only one version of Chinese state formation under the Chinese empire. This article identifies four basic types of fiscal state that appeared between the Qin unification and the Ming-Qing era, analyzes their ideological foundations, and assesses their implications for economic growth.

Presidential Address: The Tradition of Mission—Asian Studies in the United States, 1783 and 1983

1983 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Ainslie T. Embree
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
The United States ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ann Arbor ◽  
Special Relationships ◽  
Regional Associations

During the past year I have traveled to the regional associations, from Santa Cruz to Denton, to Albany, and to points in between, such as Ann Arbor, Boulder, and Boone. I have been impressed by the generosity and good will of our members, but above all, I have been impressed by the sense that we have special relationships through sharing in a common cause. For that reason I have chosen an elliptical and somewhat odd title for this address, which is one of the otherwise not very onerous duties required of the president. The title is “The Tradition of Mission—Asian Studies in the United States, 1783 and 1983.”

Economic and Social History

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 488-505
Author(s):  
Giorgio Riello
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Social History ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Early Modern History ◽  
History Of Capitalism ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
The Core ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Economic

Abstract The last quarter of a century has been one of great changes for the field of early modern economic history. My argument is that, in this period, early modern economic history has shown a remarkably innovative spirit. However, this is most apparent not at the core of the discipline, but in how economic history has interacted with other branches of early modern history, be they social, cultural, environmental, or material. This argument is supported by the analysis of quantitative evidence. I then move on to consider two important developments in early modern economic history since the late 1990s: global economic history and the history of consumption and trade. This article concludes with a reflection on recent developments in the so-called New History of Capitalism (NHC) and on studies of pre-modern inequality, sustainability, and the environment.

China's Maritime Customs and China's Trade Statistics, 1859–1948. By Thomas P. Lyons. [Trumansburg, NY: Willow Creek Press, 2003. 171 pp. $34.95. ISBN 0-97291475-7.]

2004 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 526-527
Author(s):  
Hans van de Ven
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Organizational History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic

Any historian with a serious interest in China's modern economic history will be grateful for Thomas Lyons's study of the trade statistics produced by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Those wishing to use the Customs' statistics will find it indispensable. By means of a detailed demonstration of how to reconstruct statistics for the Fujian tea trade between 1862 and 1948, Lyons shows all the pitfalls and dangers of using Customs data, and how to deal with them.Lyons, who has published on Fujian's and China's economic history in the past, constructs his study as a test of the tea trade statistics used by Robert Gardella and Chen Ciyu. He convincingly demonstrates that both made errors, which in the case of Gardella were of relatively minor consequence but in that of Chen of a much more serious nature. But his study is not a pedantic exercise in cliometric propriety. Rather, Lyons provides us with a sourcebook to the statistical publications of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. He sets out in brief form the Service's organizational history and its bureaucratic structures. He then explains the Maritime Customs Service's accounts, the statistics it produced, and their dangers. He finally applies the lessons learned to a reconstruction of the Fujian tea trade.

scholarly journals Beyond behaviorism, positivism, and neo-institutionalism in economics: a conversation with Deirdre Nansen McCloskey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey ◽  
Paolo Silvestri
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
The Past ◽  
Existence Proofs ◽  
Forthcoming Book ◽  
Big Ideas ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Mere Existence

Abstract Silvestri interviews McCloskey about her forthcoming book, ‘Beyond Behaviorism, Positivism, and Neo-Institutionalism in Economics’, critical of recent economics, especially of neo-institutionalism. Neo-institutionalism uses the ugly character ‘Herr Max U’ as its central idea: the elevation of Prudence to the only virtue. Institutions are mainly intermediate, not ultimate, causes in society. Ethics, rhetoric, identity, ideology, and ideas matter. McCloskey's turn to defending liberalism is in the background of her critique of behaviorism, positivism, and neo-institutionalism as anti-liberal, reducing the analysis of people to a model of childish slaves. Liberalism is the theory of non-slave adults. Of the big ideas of the past few centuries, only liberalism treats people with suitable dignity, and permits them to have a go, and make others rich. Neo-institutionalism shares the two sins of modern Samuelsonian economics: a devotion of mere existence proofs; and a deviation to arbitrary tests of statistical ‘significance’. And in its tale of a rise of ‘capitalism’, it shares the errors of amateur economic history. The better word for the modern economic world of the Great Enrichment – fully 3,000% increases in real income per person – is ‘innovism’. Neo-institutionalism, as the method of historical economics, must be replaced by ‘Humanomics’.

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