The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was the beginning of one of the most interesting natural experiments in recent history. The East German transition from a Communist state to part of the Federal Republic of Germany abruptly created a new social order as old institutions were abolished and new...

Economists agree about many things--contrary to popular opinion--but the majority agree about culture only in the sense that they no longer give it much thought."" So begins the first chapter of Cultures Merging, in which Eric Jones--one of the world's leading economic historians--takes an...