The World Economy
Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics
The World Economy brings together two reference works by Angus Maddison: The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, first published in 2001 and The World Economy: Historical Statistics, published in 2003. This new edition contains Statlinks, a service providing access to the underlying data in Excel® format. These two volumes bring together estimates of world GDP for the past 2000 years and provide a unique perspective on the rise and fall of economies historically.
"One controversial clash of theories fueled by Maddison's data concerns the relative status of (growth in) the West versus the rest. The figures (in this book) are enriching economists' understanding of what make economies grow, and may even make it possible to reject some of the most prominent historical explanations." Diane Coyle, author of The Soulful Science, former economics editor of The Independent newspaper.
"A tour de force. What a wonderful gift for the new century." Robert Mundell, Nobel Prize winner and Professor of Economics, Columbia University .
"An essential reference for anyone interested in global development for many years to come." Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics, Princeton University .
"Quite simply a dazzling essay." Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute.
"Highly recommended . . . refreshing and full of historical information. An important book." Kisanhani F. Emizet, Kanzas University, writing in International Politics.
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Africa
OECD Development Centre
As the long–term economic development of Africa is difficult to quantify with any precision, it is useful to consider the broad contours and salient features I had in mind when making conjectures about the development of per capita income. There is a marked difference between the historical experience of the lands North of the Sahara and the rest of the continent. For most of the past two millennia, there were higher levels of income and urbanisation, more sophisticated economic and political institutions in the North than in the South. North African history is reasonably well documented because there are substantial written records. Knowledge of the South is based on archaeological or linguistic evidence until the ninth century when written evidence of northern visitors becomes available...
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