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A Review of Gregory Clark's A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World

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  • Robert C. Allen

Abstract

A Farewell to Alms advances striking claims about the economic history of the world. These include (1) the preindustrial world was in a Malthusian preventive check equilibrium, (2) living standards were unchanging and above subsistence for the last 100,000 years, (3) bad institutions were not the cause of economic backwardness, (4) successful economic growth was due to the spread of "middle class" values from the elite to the rest of society for "biological" reasons, (5) workers were the big gainers in the British Industrial Revolution, and (6) the absence of middle class values, for biological reasons, explains why most of the world is poor. The empirical support for these claims is examined, and all are questionable.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert C. Allen, 2008. "A Review of Gregory Clark's A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 946-973, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:46:y:2008:i:4:p:946-73
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.46.4.946
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jel.46.4.946
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1209-2004," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1307-1340, December.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    1. links for 2010-02-21
      by Jim in Our Word is Our Weapon on 2010-02-22 09:01:00

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    6. Ken Tabata, 2013. "The Expansion of the Commercial Sector and the Child Quantity-Quality Transition in a Malthusian World," Discussion Paper Series 105, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised May 2013.
    7. Clark, Gregory & Cummins, Joe & Smith, Brock, 2010. "The Surprising Wealth of Pre-industrial England," MPRA Paper 25468, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Gregory Clark, 2010. "The macroeconomic aggregates for England, 1209–2008," Research in Economic History, in: Research in Economic History, pages 51-140, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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