How it all Began (Routledge Revivals)

Book excerpt: First published in 1975, this book traces the origins of our modern economy, showing the routes by which nations have either achieved wealth or have been impoverished. W. W. Rostow brings together issues of public policy, international trade and the world of science and technology, arguing that conventional economic thought has failed to relate scientific innovation to the economic process. Chapters consider the politics of modernization, the Commercial Revolution and the development of the world economy between 1783 and 1820.