The World Economy: Historical Statistics

The World Economy: Historical Statistics, by Angus Maddison, 2003.

Published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this work studies the growth of populations and economies across the centuries. Not just the World Economy as it is now, but how it was in the past.

Among other things, it confirming Adam Smith's view that China and India were at a level with Europe in the late 18th century, but also static whereas Europe was fast progressing. It also shows them recovering lost ground from the 1950s, as well as documenting the much faster rise of Japan and East Asia. And the economic shrinkage of Russia in the 1990s.

The book is a mass of statistical tables, mostly on a decade-by-decade basis, along with notes explaining how particular figures are arrived at. (A more popular version would be very useful.) It is available both as a large paperback book (288 pages) and in electronic format.

External links

• the electronic version can be purchased here.