"The industrial revolution transformed the productive power of societies. It did so by vastly increasing the individual productivity, thus delivering whole populations from poverty. In this new account by one of the world's acknowledged authorities the central issue is not simply how the...

Introduction -- Consistency and viability of economic systems -- Consistency and viability of market capitalism -- Great Britain. From Atlee's postwar consensus and welfare state to Thatcher's free market economy -- Postwar Japan: from the economic miracle to the bubble economy -- The European...