European Economic Development: The Contribution of the Periphery

A new school of development history (Wallerstein, Frank, Amin et al) claims that the evolution of international commerce between core and periphery over long cycles of expansion and construction for three centuries after 1450 created conditions which form a significant part of the explanation for th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Economic history review Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
Main Author O'Brien, Patrick
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Welwyn Garden City Titus Wilson and Son Ltd 01.02.1982
Popper and Co
Subjects
Capitalism
Commerce
Commodities
Economic development
Economic history
Imports
International economics
International trade
Surveys and Speculations
Trade
Trade development
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Summary:A new school of development history (Wallerstein, Frank, Amin et al) claims that the evolution of international commerce between core and periphery over long cycles of expansion and construction for three centuries after 1450 created conditions which form a significant part of the explanation for the accelerated rate of economic growth experienced by north-western Europe from 1750 onwards. This article attempts to measure the contribution of trade with the periphery for the growth of output and the formation of capital at the core; takes up the issues of supernormal profits and externalities supposedly generated by this trade; explores the impact of imported bullion on the European money supply and concludes: "for the economic growth of the core the periphery was peripheral".
ISSN:0013-0117
1468-0289
DOI:10.2307/2595100