Price volatility, reflecting the ability to absorb exogenous supply- or demand shocks, is an important dimension of market performance. In this paper we present a model to study the factors determining the price volatility of markets of basic foodstuffs in pre industrial societies. This model is...

pt. 1. Methodology -- pt. 2. Market performance in Babylonia and the Mediterranean in antiquity -- pt. 3. Market performance from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century -- pt. 4. Markets and money -- pt. 5. Long-term patterns -- pt. 6. Conclusion.

"The Origins of Globalization: For better or for worse, in recent times the rapid growth of international economic exchange has changed our lives. But when did this process of globalisation begin, and what effects did it have on economies and societies? Pim de Zwart and Jan Luiten van Zanden...

"The Origins of Globalization: For better or for worse, in recent times the rapid growth of international economic exchange has changed our lives. But when did this process of globalisation begin, and what effects did it have on economies and societies? Pim de Zwart and Jan Luiten van Zanden...

"How was life in 1820, and how has it improved since then? What are the long-term trends in global well-being? Views on social progress since the Industrial Revolution are largely based on historical national accounting in the tradition of Kuznets and Maddison. But trends in real GDP per capita...