In his recent Mass Flourishings, Edmund Phelps makes a strong and eloquent plea for a more dynamic economy, which he sees not only as a key for economic performance, but also as necessary for what he calls "the good life." This review essay evaluates those claims in the light of economic history.

This essay reviews and criticizes Vermeij?s Nature: An Economic History and places it in the context of evolutionary economics. Vermeij presents a natural history written in what he considers economic terms and argues that biologists should know more about economics. While the exchanges between...

This paper reviews recent contributions to the economics and economic history of famine. It provides a context for the history of famine in the twentieth century, which is unique. During the century, war and totalitarianism produced more famine deaths than did overpopulation and economic...