Gregory Clark

Suggests that social mobility rates are lower than normally estimated, do not vary across societies, and are resistant to social policies by examining surnames from modern Sweden, fourteenth-century England, and Qing Dynasty China.

Surnames and the History of Social Mobility

The Son Also Rises

"What caused the Industrial Revolution? Gregory Clark has a brilliant and fascinating explanation for this event which permanently changed the life of humankind after 100,000 years of stagnation."--George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics and Koshland Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley "This is a very important book. Gregory Clark argues that the Industrial Revolution was the gradual but inevitable result of a kind of natural selection during the harsh struggle for existence in the pre-industrial era, in which economically successful families were also more reproductively successful. They transmitted to their descendants, culturally and perhaps genetically, such productive attitudes as foresight, thrift, and devotion to hard work. This audacious thesis, which dismisses rival explanations in terms of prior ideological, technological, or institutional revolutions, will be debated by historians for many years to come."--Paul Seabright, author of "The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life" "Challenging the prevailing wisdom that institutions explain why some societies become rich, Gregory Clark's "A Farewell to Alms" will appeal to a broad audience. I can think of nothing else like it."--Philip T. Hoffman, author of "Growth in a Traditional Society" "You may not always agree with Gregory Clark, but he will capture your attention, make you think, and make you reconsider. He is a provocative and imaginative scholar and a true original. As an economic historian, he engages with economists in general; as an economist, he is parsimonious with high-tech algebra and unnecessarily complex models. Occam would approve."--Cormac Grda, author of "Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce" "This should rapidly become a standard work on the history of economic development. It should start whole industries trying to test, refine, and refute its explanations. And Gregory Clark's views on the economic merits of imperialism and the fact that labor gained the most from industrialization will infuriate all the right people."--Eric L. Jones, author of "Cultures Merging" and "The European Miracle" "While many books on the Industrial Revolution tend to focus narrowly either on the event itself, or on one explanation for it, Gregory Clark does neither. He takes an extremely long-run view, covering significant periods before and after the Industrial Revolution, without getting bogged down in long or detailed exposition. This is an extremely important contribution to the subject."--Clifford Bekar, Lewis and Clark College

A Brief Economic History of the World

A Farewell to Alms

Why are some parts of the world so rich and others so poor? Why did the Industrial Revolution--and the unprecedented economic growth that came with it--occur in eighteenth-century England, and not at some other time, or in some other place? Why didn't industrialization make the whole world rich--and why did it make large parts of the world even poorer? In A Farewell to Alms, Gregory Clark tackles these profound questions and suggests a new and provocative way in which culture--not exploitation, geography, or resources--explains the wealth, and the poverty, of nations. Countering the prevailing theory that the Industrial Revolution was sparked by the sudden development of stable political, legal, and economic institutions in seventeenth-century Europe, Clark shows that such institutions existed long before industrialization. He argues instead that these institutions gradually led to deep cultural changes by encouraging people to abandon hunter-gatherer instincts-violence, impatience, and economy of effort-and adopt economic habits-hard work, rationality, and education. The problem, Clark says, is that only societies that have long histories of settlement and security seem to develop the cultural characteristics and effective workforces that enable economic growth. For the many societies that have not enjoyed long periods of stability, industrialization has not been a blessing. Clark also dissects the notion, championed by Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel, that natural endowments such as geography account for differences in the wealth of nations. A brilliant and sobering challenge to the idea that poor societies can be economically developed through outside intervention, A Farewell to Alms may change the way global economic history is understood.

A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World

Do you wake up and reach for your phone? Do you pick it up and then look at the clock, wondering where the time went? Do you want to reduce weight yet continue to consume junk food? How effective are you in your work or business? Are you restless and unable to concentrate? Do you find it difficult to feel excited about big projects? You will comprehend how our use of smart phones impairs our capacity to focus, think abstractly, and form new memories. You will then make personalized changes to your system's settings, environment, and mental attitude needed to retake control of your life. In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn: The science behind dopamine and how it affects your brain and behavior The negative impact of dopamine dysregulation on your mental and physical health The benefits and potential risks of dopamine detox Strategies for managing cravings and anxiety The role of self-care in dopamine detoxification Long-term benefits of dopamine detox and preventing relapse And much more! You'll also learn about the latest research on the brain and how to use it to be more productive. The Dopamine Detox Secrets Book is not only an easy read but also a step-by-step guide to help you understand the science behind distractions and how to overcome them.

How Dopamine Detox Can Help You Take Control of Your Life (Get Your Brain to Remove Distractions and Focus to Turn Hard Things Into Base Instincts)

Dopamine Detox

Senza pietà. Breve storia economica del mondo

Pozegnanie z jalmuzna

Pierpont Morgan Library

John Plummer

French Painting in Manuscripts, 1420-1530 : from American Collections

The Last Flowering

Clark examines the book of hours in the context of medieval culture, the book trade in Paris, and the role of Paris as an international center of illumination. 64 illustrations, 40 in color.

Gregory Clark

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