World Economic Development History.
Project instructions:
Please briefly answer these 15 questions in short essay format. The book World Economic Development (2014) published by Cognella Academic Publishing, author is Molly Malloy Cooper, maybe helpful to answer these question. You dont have to fulfill 4 pages of the requirement, just answer all these questions is good enough, thank you.
1. List 2 data sources researchers use to estimate historical standards of living and explain what they can infer from these sources. List three indicators of economic development other than National Income measures (NI, GDP, or GNP, level, growth rate, or per capita) that are of interest to economists and explain what can be inferred from each of these indicators.
2. Explain in detail 3 weaknesses of per capita GNP (or GDP) as a measure of economic well-being. Although this measure has the flaws you just listed (and others) it is the most oft-referenced statistic when considering standard of living differences across countries. Why?
3. What has happened to global economic inequality since 1960? Why? Characterize the progress in social measures (education and health) in impoverished nations. Why is there less of a link between improvement in these measures and GDP than in the past?
4. Describe the North and Thomas model explaining the Neolithic Revolution. Specifically, use a graph to illustrate how population growth affected this change. How is this model consistent with what we know about the transformation from Hunter-Gatherers to Settled Agriculturists?
5. Explain how the Neolithic revolution ultimately led to the formation of civilizations. (In other words, how did settlement evolve into civilization). Provide 3 characteristics of civilizations (different from just settlement). What was the hierarchical social structure of the early civilizations? (Who was at the top, in the middle, and on the bottom layers these societies?)
6. List 4 contributions of the earliest civilizations (those that eventually formed the Babylonian Empire) and explain how each was important to continued economic growth.
7. What were the major contributions to economic development of the Phoenician Empire? Of the Greeks? Of the Romans?
8. What is meant by technological stagnation in the Greek and Roman Empires? How could “an Overdose of Slavery” be the cause? List 2 flaws of the slavery explanation. Provide an alternative explanation.
9. Explain the developments at the end of the Roman Empire that lead to the rise of the Manorial System. Specifically, from whom were the Romans under attack and what were the economic impacts? What measures did Emperor Diocletian (284-305) attempt to alleviate the empires’ financial woes? What measures were attempted by his successors, notably Constantine (306-337) and Theodosius I (379-395)?
10. According to Jared Diamond, the ability to grow what types of crops are most favorable to economic development? Why? List and briefly explain 3 characteristics of an animal that Diamond sees as necessary for domestication of that species.
11. The evolution of economic organization from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture to more complex civilizations proceeded at vastly different paces in different parts of the world. Explain why the pace of development on the Eurasian landmass was so much more rapid than in Africa and the Americas. Describe and explain Australian development before European settlement.
12. According to the Domar Model, what 3 things are incompatible simultaneously? Which two were present in the Manorial system? What are the three sections in the 3-Course Rotation? Why was this innovation important for growth during the middle ages?