The Great Divergence：China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy.

TheGreatDivergencebringsnewinsighttooneoftheclassicquestionsofhistory:WhydidsustainedindustrialgrowthbegininNorthwestEurope,despitesurprisingsimilaritiesbetweenadvancedareasofEuropeandEastAsia?KennethPomeranzshows,asrecentlyas1750,parallelsbetweenthesetwopartsoftheworldinlifeexpectancy,consumption,productandfactormarkets,thestrategiesofhouseholds,andperhapsmostsurprisingly,ecology.PomeranzarguesthatEurope'snineteenth-centurydivergencefromtheOldWorldowesmuchtothefortunatelocationofcoal,whichsubstitutedfortimber,andtradewiththeAmericas.Together,coalandtheNewWorldallowedEuropetogrowalongresource-intensive,labor-savingpaths.Meanwhile,Asiahitacul-de-sac.AlthoughtheEastAsianhinterlandsboomedafter1750,bothinpopulationandinmanufacturing,thisgrowthpreventedtheseperipheralregionsfromexportingvitalresourcestothecloth-producingYangziDelta.Asaresult,growthinthecoreofEastAsia'seconomyessentiallystopped,andwhatgrowthdidexistwasforcedalonglabor-intensive,resource-savingpaths-pathsEuropecouldhavebeenforceddown,too,haditnotbeenforfavorableresourcestocksfromundergroundandoverseas.