Economics
Economic History and Political Economy
7 books for Economic History and Political Economy, part of the Economics course map, listed from introductory to advanced. 1 of them have an official free edition.
Suggested reading compiled by this site for university students and independent learners. This is not an official university reading plan. Check your own syllabus before buying; editions and exercise numbers differ.
Books in this reading list · 7
- How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth
- Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to the Present
- A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to the Present
- Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption
- Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
- Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
Reading order
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How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth
An accessible survey, written by two economic historians for students and general readers, of why sustained economic growth began and why it spread unevenly. Rather than arguing for one cause, it weighs the main explanations in the literature, including geography, institutions, culture, demography and colonialism, against the historical evidence.
Prerequisites: No background in economics or history is required.
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Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
A wide-ranging argument that differences in prosperity between countries are explained mainly by their political and economic institutions rather than by geography, culture or ignorance. Drawing on historical cases from the Roman Empire to modern Africa and East Asia, the authors distinguish inclusive institutions that spread opportunity from extractive ones that concentrate power and wealth.
Prerequisites: None; the book is written for general readers and requires no economics or history background.
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A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to the Present
A single-volume survey of world economic history from the earliest agricultural societies to the global economy of the early twenty-first century. The authors organise the story around population, resources, technology and institutions, and pay steady attention to why some regions industrialised earlier and grew faster than others.
Prerequisites: No economics beyond a principles course is required, though familiarity with basic concepts such as productivity helps.
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A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to the Present
An edited undergraduate textbook on world economic history since 1500, written by regional specialists and organised by world region rather than by period. Each chapter summarises current quantitative research on growth, living standards, human capital, institutions and inequality, and short interlinking chapters compare themes such as human capital, natural resources, trade and institutions across regions.
Prerequisites: No prior economic history is needed; familiarity with basic economic concepts such as GDP, productivity and trade is helpful.
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Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption
Read the official free edition ↗A free economic history of fossil fuel consumption that connects energy technologies with production, institutions and social systems, especially after 1950.
Prerequisites: Basic economic history or political economy and confidence reading time-series charts are helpful. Learn the difference between energy quantities, energy services and carbon emissions before comparing the historical statistics.
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Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance
Douglass North's book-length statement of the new institutional economics. It defines institutions as the formal rules and informal constraints that structure human interaction, and argues that transaction costs, enforcement and path dependence explain why some economies develop institutions that foster growth while others persist with institutions that produce stagnation.
Prerequisites: Introductory microeconomics and a survey course in economic history are assumed; no formal modelling is required.
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Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
A research monograph that uses game-theoretic models to explain when societies become democratic, when democracy consolidates, and when it collapses. The authors model conflict between elites and citizens over redistribution, and show how inequality, the threat of revolution and the structure of the economy shape regime outcomes.
Prerequisites: Comfort with game theory, including dynamic games with commitment problems, and graduate-level microeconomics is assumed.