Carlo Cipolla noted in his Before the Industrial Revolution that social history is an essential component for our understanding of economic progress. He notes that:
Cipolla notes that prostitution went hand in hand with the process of economic development. According to him: "in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the two major centers of prostitution in Europe were Venice and Rome, a primacy which, with the Industrial Revolution, was to be taken over by London and Paris." The decline in the number of prostitutes per 1,000 inhabitants in Rome by the late 17th century is part of that decadence.
I would like to see some revisionist research on the proeminence of prostitution in China. Or maybe the West was 'ahead' in this category at least. And yes Vegas is a sign of development!
"The history of the professions is an essential part of the story of 'intangible' values. Scholarly prestige, restrictive practices through the enforcement of licensing, relatively high personal income—all these factors individually reinforced each other and in combination made possible the social ascent of the professionals."He suggests that the financial independence of certain professional categories in Europe (lawyers and doctors, for example), when compared with Asia, might explain some of the divergnet paths between the regions. Before, we go down the road of eurocentrism, I want to note the following table from the book.
I would like to see some revisionist research on the proeminence of prostitution in China. Or maybe the West was 'ahead' in this category at least. And yes Vegas is a sign of development!
Cipolla...always relevant!
ReplyDeleteanother pterodox blog that praises argentina's *great* economic policies?
ReplyDelete=/
Not all are great, but compared to what we had in the past... what is a pterodox, by the way?
DeleteI think it's a reference to the pterodactyl, and thus suggests that heterodox economists are "dinosaurs." It's a bit more creative and amusing than the usual reference to Ptolemy or phlogiston. None of these epithets does much good convincing people to agree with mainstream theory, though.
DeleteI don't often deal with the idea of whether ideas are old (and dinosaurs hold them or not). The fact is that people like Wynne Godley, or Dean Baker, using heterodox idea did foresee the 2007-8 crisis, while the mainstream is lost. So this kind of name calling is irrelevant really.
DeleteIt is sort of strange to attack ideas because of their vintage. One could attack Euclidean geometry or Archimedes' method of volume measurement on similar grounds. There is, sadly, no point talking to people like this, because there is no assurance of good faith (quite the opposite, in fact).
Deleteargentina's policies are great when using the magical K deflator.. if you use the boring washington consensus mellon face deflator you get mediocre growth, which combined with very high inflation and now price freezing you get a recipe for disaster.. No wonder brazil is also facing mediocre growth and higher inflation, guido mantega and his pterodox blue caps use argentina as a positive example.
ReplyDeleteNot really. You should get your data right. Facts are facts. Using Ferreres data, which uses a much higher inflation deflator, average growth between 2003-12, that is, post crisis has been 5.8%. Check the post here http://nakedkeynesianism.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-do-you-measure-economic-success.html
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