Propagation of rule: a theory of economic success and stagnation -- The propagation of rule -- Historical origins of rule propagation -- Applying the theory: why the West got rich and the Middle East did not -- Bans on taking interest -- Restrictions on the printing press -- Printing & the...

For centuries following the spread of Islam, the Middle East was far ahead of Europe. Yet, the modern economy was born in Europe. Why was it not born in the Middle East? In this book Jared Rubin examines the role that Islam played in this reversal of fortunes. It argues that the religion itself...

From a macroeconomic perspective the term "new economy" describes a phenomenon of persistent strong and low-inflation growth due to the large diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT). This paper looks into Europe's position with respect to the new-economy phenomenon. Section...

This paper investigates the importance of the shape of the income distribution as a determinant of economic growth in a panel of countries. Using comparable data on disposable income from the Luxembourg Income Study, results show that aggregate inequality measures, such as Gini coefficients, can...

The demographic transition that swept the world in the past 140 years has been identified as one of the prime forces in the transition from stagnation to growth. The unprecedented increase in population growth during the early stages of industrialization was ultimately reversed. The rise in the...

The evolution of economies over most of human history was marked by Malthusian stagnation. vTechnological progress and population growth were miniscule by modern standards and the average growth rate of income per capita was even slower due to the offsetting effect of population growth on the...