Series Introduction: 

The economic statistics monograph series tweets will provide an easy-to-understand interpretation of influential economic statistics monographs internationally. In addition to economic statistics monographs published by publishers, it also includes methodological manuals and collections of special papers on economic statistics published by international organizations (OECD, UN, World Bank, IMF, EU, etc.), doctoral dissertations on economic statistics topics, and some Working Papers from economic research institutions.

Publication Information:

Maddison, A. (2001), The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, Development Centre Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264189980-en.

Maddison, A. (2003). The World Economy: A Millennial History (translated by Wu Xiaoying et al.). Beijing: Peking University Press

Recommendation

If you want to use data to penetrate the fog of history and understand the essence of economic growth through the rise and fall of civilizations over a millennium, "The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective" is definitely an essential intellectual tool! Angus Maddison, with a grand interdisciplinary vision, condenses the economic history from year 1 AD to the present into quantifiable truths using his original "Maddison Database": from the glory of China's Song Dynasty leading the world in per capita GDP, to how institutional rigidity caused civilizations to miss opportunities; from innovations triggered by geopolitical crises during the Age of Exploration, to the market systems that accelerated globalization in 1820—the book, with its stark data and passionate insights, completely overturns the "Eurocentric" view and reveals that "open institutions are the ultimate key to growth." Whether scholar, policymaker, or history enthusiast, this book allows you to rethink the underlying logic of the world's operation through the interplay of data and examples, making it a "grand epic guide to decoding human destiny."

Summary

"The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective" is the representative work of Angus Maddison, a scholar renowned in the field of long-term economic growth. The book covers a wide range of topics, including world population, GDP, and long-term trends in per capita GDP. It pays particular attention to the impact of Western development on other parts of the world, examining how Western countries' economic, political, and technological expansion from 1000 to 1950 shaped the global economic pattern. The book also analyzes the role of colonization, trade, and technology transfer in the development of the world economy.

    As a model of quantitative economic history, this book integrates perspectives from economics, history, geography, and other disciplines, combining over 300 detailed data tables from *A Millennium of Global Economic Data* to critically test existing theoretical hypotheses. The book pays particular attention to the complex impact of Western economic expansion (1000–1950) on the non-Western world, as well as how post-World War II globalization, technological innovation, and institutional competition reshaped the world order. Its pioneering research methods and historical insights make it a 'handbook' for understanding long-term economic growth patterns. It is widely cited in academic research and policy discussions and has been praised as an 'epic work decoding the secrets of human development.'

Content Structure

    *The Cambridge Economic History of the World* constructs a global economic narrative spanning two millennia with a rigorous framework. The introduction explains the original 'quantitative economic history' methodology, relying on quantitative indicators such as population and GDP, breaking the limitations of traditional qualitative analysis. Chapter 1 outlines the millennium-long changes in global population and per capita GDP from a macro perspective, establishing a baseline for subsequent analyses. Chapter 2 focuses on 1000–1950, analyzing the complex processes of Western rise and interaction with the non-West through exemplary cases in Venice, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Britain. It not only reveals how colonial expansion and technology diffusion reshaped the global pattern but also challenges Eurocentric perspectives with special topics such as 'Indian Ocean Trade' and the 'East Asian Trade Network.' Chapter 3 shifts to the latter half of the 20th century, comparing differentiated development paths across regions, including developed capitalist countries, Asian revival economies, Latin America, and Africa, while integrating the Soviet transition and globalization waves, echoing the core proposition that 'institutions determine destiny.' The appendices provide detailed global population and GDP data from 1820 to 1998, forming a 'argument-evidence' loop with the companion volume *A Millennium of Global Economic Data*, highlighting the handbook's value. The book combines insights from economics, history, and geography to critically reconstruct traditional hypotheses such as the 'Industrial Revolution rupture theory,' supplemented with a literature index and multilingual comparison tables. It is both an epic work decoding the rise and fall of civilizations and an essential reference for the study of long-term economic growth.

Author Biography

    Angus Maddison (1926–2010) was a renowned British economist and economic historian specializing in quantitative history. He devoted much of his career to the examination and analysis of macroeconomic historical data and is hailed as a pioneer in the empirical study of long-term economic growth. Through the systematic compilation and reconstruction of historical economic data, he for the first time created a macroeconomic database covering major economies worldwide over a span of two thousand years (known as the "Maddison Global Database"), providing an important tool for studying long-term dynamics of the world economy. Maddison served as a senior advisor at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and was a professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. His research not only influenced academia but also supported policy-making, particularly offering valuable reference for analyzing the long-term economic performance of countries such as China and Japan. His work is known for its data transparency and interdisciplinary approach, referred to as the "Maddison style," and it promoted the trend of macro quantitative analysis in global economic history research.

    His representative works, "The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective" (2001) and its companion volume "The World Economy: Historical Statistics" (2003), reveal the phased characteristics of human economic growth through quantitative analysis, challenging traditional periodization theories of economic history. Other major works include "The World Economy: A Study of Long-Term Development of Capitalism" (1982), "Growth and Development of Capitalism" (1991), and country-specific economic studies such as "Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run" (1998) and "Economic Growth of Japan and the Soviet Union" (1970), among others.