Economic Growth and Comparative Development

Catalog description

This course explores the origins of wealth and inequality across the globe. It examines: (i) the determinants of the growth process since the emergence of Homo sapiens, (ii) the roots of the dramatic transformation in living standards in the past two centuries, and (iii) the role of deeply rooted geographical, institutional, and cultural characteristics as well as human diversity in the uneven development across the countries and regions. The analysis proposes a resolution for some of the most fundamental mysteries of the journey of humanity: What trapped humankind in poverty for most of human existence? What sparked the massive metamorphosis in living standards over the past two centuries? And what led to the emergence of immense inequality across nations?