Summerschool 2025 +2026: The Economic History of Europe

This comprehensive course offers theoretical and historical insights into the evolution of Europe. We start by tracing the continent’s emergence from being a technological and economic backwater at the end of the first millennium to being able to match the advanced Muslim and Chinese civilizations around 1500. We continue by following the economic advances as Europe forged ahead, becoming the leader of the Industrial Revolution and the source of numerous technological innovations, which were diffused internationally through trade and colonial domination, but with varying impact on the rest of the world. It is shown that Europe was unique in fostering a mentality of rational inquiry into the laws of nature which led to an industrial enlightenment. A special focus will be on the last 200 years of dramatic economic development, when a remarkable increase in income has been accompanied by recurrent crises and increased world inequality but decreasing domestic inequality. This has generated a variety of responses such as the modern macroeconomic stabilization policies, the Welfare State, and attempts to tame the disruptive impact of financial turbulence and unemployment. Although the last 150 years have been a period of remarkable growth, they have also been a period of recurrent crises which require explanation.

Lecture Plan:

1. Introduction: What is economic history? Introduces the discipline of economic history by focusing on how efficiency in resource use, shaped by institutions and technology, determines welfare across time.
2. Chapter 1: The making of Europe. Explores the emergence of Europe through the Neolithic revolution, the rise of agriculture and cities, and the integrative role of trade from antiquity to the present.
3. Chapter 2: Europe from obscurity to economic recovery. Describes the post-Roman economic decline and the gradual recovery through division of labour, urbanisation, and trade revival in the medieval period.
4. Chapter 3: Population and resource constraints. Examines historical population growth, the Malthusian model, and the demographic transition in light of environmental and technological constraints.
5. Chapter 4: The nature and extent of economic growth in the pre-industrial epoch. Investigates the drivers of pre-industrial economic growth and the factors that explain regional variation and divergence.
6. Chapter 5: Institutions and efficiency. Discusses how institutions evolved to support markets and efficiency, and how some persisted due to elite interests rather than productivity.
7. Chapter 6: Knowledge, technology transfer and convergence. Analyses the role of science and knowledge in driving industrialisation and how technology transfer shaped global convergence and divergence.
8. Chapter 7: Money, credit and banking. Traces the development of money, financial systems, and banking from antiquity to modernity, highlighting their roles in facilitating economic growth and risk management.
9. Chapter 8: Trade and globalisation. Explores the causes, patterns, and policy cycles of globalisation, and how trade affects development, protectionism, and inequality.
10. Chapter 9: Factor markets and globalisation. Considers capital and labour market integration, international monetary regimes, and the impact of migration on wages and development.
11. Chapter 10: What (should) governments do. Reviews the changing role of governments in managing economies, from laissez-faire to Keynesian policies, and the rise of the welfare state.
12. Chapter 11: Inequalities between individuals, households and nations. Investigates trends in inequality within and between countries, including the roles of institutions, gender, and global convergence.
13. Conclusion and epilogue. Reflects on the historical gains in welfare, the lessons of past crises, and the sustainability challenges posed by inequality and climate change.