Population and Economy

An exploration of the functioning of early modern economies in relation to their demographic patterns.

The essays contribute not only to a richer understanding of the relationships in the past between population and economy, but also to a fuller appreciation of the circumstances that limited economic growth in preindustrial economies and with the train of events that led to the escape from these constraints with the industrial revolution.With the publication of The Population History of England in 1981 it has become possible for the first time to trace in detail the demographic changes that occurred in a major European country throughout the early modern period and during the industrial revolution. It is therefore also now possible to test our understanding of the functioning of early modern economies in relation to their demographic patterns against the new empirical data. The discussion of this historical theme, first initiated by Malthus in the late eighteenth century, can now be taken a substantial step further. All of the essays published here take advantage of this new possibility, either by using the English data themselves, or by reflecting on the implications of a comparison between English patterns and those found elsewhere. The essays contribute not only to a richer understanding of the relationships in the past between population and economy, but also to a fuller appreciation of the circumstances that limited economic growth in pre-industrial economies and with the train of events that led to the escape from these constraints with the industrial revolution.