Answer Discussion Questions on The Great Divergence debate using the given readings
Answer Discussion Questions on The Great Divergence debate using the given readings
Answer the following questions individually (not essay format) using the given readings (do not use outside sources).
About 1000 words total
The readings:
– http://www.csun.edu/~jaa7021/hist531/Goldstone%20-…
– https://voxeu.org/article/accounting-great-diverge…
– https://voxeu.org/article/why-china-missed-industr…
The Questions:
1. What, according to Goldstone, the distinguishing features of the following kinds of growth: i) extensive (Malthusian), ii) Smithian, iii) Schumpeterian, and iii) modern (Kuznetsian)?
2. Considering the “efflorescences” examined by Goldstone (Dutch “golden age”, northern European “cathedral age”, mid-Qing China, and the English “first industrial revolution), what would you say is the relative importance of each kind of growth in each?
3. What is original or distinctive about Goldstone’s definition and dating of the “Industrial Revolution”, and how does he explain it?
4. Why, given his explanation of the industrial revolution, do you think Goldstone is so concerned to undermine most claims about the distinctiveness of early modern Europe?
5. Given the data in Broadberry and van Zanden, assess Goldstone’s claims about a mid-Qing efflorescence—how do Broadberry’s per capita GDP numbers challenge Goldstone’s argument? What does Van Zanden think were the main economic similarities difference between “golden age” Holland and the Yangzi delta in the high Qing period discussed by Goldstone?
