State, Economy and the Great Divergence : Great Britain and China, 1680s-1850s

"State, Economy and the Great Divergence provides a new analysis of what has become the central debate in global economic history: the 'great divergence' between European and Asian growth. Focusing on early modern China and Western Europe, in particular Great Britain, this book offers a new level of detail on comparative state formation that has wide-reaching implications for European, Eurasian and global history. Beginning with an overview of the historiography, Peer Vries goes on to extend and develop the debate, critically engaging with the huge volume of literature published on the topic to date. Incorporating recent insights, he offers a compelling alternative to the claims to East-West equivalence, or Asian superiority, which have come to dominate discourse surrounding this issue. This is a vital update to a key issue in global economic history and, as such, is essential reading for students and scholars interested in keeping up to speed with the on-going debates."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Preface 9 INTRODUCTION 10 The importance, role and function of the state: The cases of Great Britain and China 11 HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION: TRADITIONAL VIEWS AND ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES 16 The persistence of the traditional view: Britain as an emerging free-trade economy 16 The persistence of the traditional view: China as a despotic, ‘oriental’ empire 23 Alternative perspectives: Fiscal-militarism and mercantilism in Britain and benevolent agrarian paternalism in China 26 Further revisionism: Early modern parallels in state-building and the creating of empire 34 BRINGING THE STATE BACK IN 43 States: Modern and premodern 49 The concept of state strength 65 SOME COMMENTS ON METHODS, MEASUREMENTS AND MONEY 66 A note on money and silver 69 TWO TOPICS THAT WILL NOT BE DISCUSSED EXTENSIVELY: PROPERTY RIGHTS AND LAW 73 Chapter 1 REVENUE 78 THE EFFICIENCY OF REVENUE COLLECTION 133 Centralization versus decentralization 133 Tax (in)efficiency and what caused it: The case of Great Britain 136 Tax (in)efficiency and what caused it: The case of China 147 An intermezzo: Are some taxes easier to collect than others? Land taxes in China versus excises and customs in Great Britain 154 From inefficiency to malpractices and corruption 160 Some general comments on the strength of the British and Chinese states 167 TAX SYSTEMS AND THEIR TRAJECTORIES 172 Revenue at the disposal and discretion of central government 78 Other forms of government revenue in (Western) Europe 83 War reparations and prize money 92 Income from the colonies and the outsourcing of violence and rule 95 Taxes and other forms of government revenue in China during the entire period of the high Qing: General remarks 96 Other sources of government income 102 China: A closer look at official quantities 103 A more in-depth comparison of government revenue in (Great) Britain and China during the very long eighteenth century 105 Government revenue and national income 108 Private incomes and government incomes in Great Britain 112 Private incomes and government incomes in China 119 Government levies and purchasing power 123 Government’s purchasing power 126 Increasing versus decreasing government revenues 129 Great Britain as a European outlier 172 China: The continuing predominance of land taxes and the continued irrelevance of excises and customs 176 Some further comments on indirect taxes in Great Britain 184 Chapter 2 (OVER-)EXPENDITURE 190 EXPENDITURE 190 A closer look at expenditures: The overwhelming importance of the military 192 Non-military expenditures in Great Britain and China: Was Qing China indeed more of a ‘welfare state’ than Great Britain? 199 How successful were social policies in combating crises? 209 A brief comment on monetization of expenditure 213 OVER-EXPENDITURE 214 Military Keynesianism 221 Frugal China 225 Chapter 3 FINANCE AND MONEY 228 Financial and monetary systems 228 Britain’s financial revolution: The emergence of a system of representation and trust? 228 China’s financial system, or rather its absence 242 Great Britain’s monetary system 249 China’s monetary system 259 Some final comments 272 Chapter 4 PEOPLE 276 Bureaucrats and bureaucracy 276 Some comments on the situation in Europe 276 Bureaucrats and bureaucracy in China 280 The overwhelming importance of the military 285 Some comments on the situation in Europe 285 Great Britain as a military superpower 293 China’s military 299 Chapter 5 THE MILITARY AND THE ECONOMY 304 From military to economic revolution and/or the other way around? 304 Fundamental changes in Great Britain’s military? 311 Stasis in China? 313 The economic impact of war: The British case 323 Chapter 6 ECONOMIC POLICIES 334 The practice of mercantilism in Western Europe 334 Some comments on mercantilism and labour in Great Britain 342 British trade: Prohibitions, tariffs and support 348 Protected trade, the use of violence and territorial power 353 Chinese economic policy: Agrarian paternalism at home and when it comes to foreign trade 356 The Qing and foreign trade 360 The effects of ‘isolationism’ 368 Was China’s economy up until the silver drain in the nineteenth century really as advanced as revisionists want us to believe? Or, what is wrong with the thesis that China was the global silver sink 373 The logic of mercantile capitalism 381 Chapter 7 EMPIRE AND ECONOMY 390 Empire-building in the west: the logic behind it 390 Empire-building in the West: Land and people 392 The importance of empire and ghost acreage for the economy of Great Britain 397 China and empire 401 China and ghost acreage 410 Chapter 8 STATE-BUILDING, NATION-BUILDING AND ‘LEGIBILITY’ 418 State and nation in Great Britain and China 418 ‘Governmentality’, knowledge and discipline 425 CONCLUDING REMARKS 436 What differences did differences make? 440 APPENDICES 446 Appendix A 446 Literature dealing with the question to which extent Great Britain was different from/similar to other (Western) European countries 446 Aooebdix B 446 Estimates of official regular (tax) revenue/income of central government in Qing China1 446 Bibliography 448 INDEX OF PERSONS 500 INDEX OF PLACES 505 INDEX OF SUBJECTS 508 State, Economy and the Great Divergence provides a new analysis of what has become the central debate in global economic history: the 'great divergence' between European and Asian growth. Focusing on early modern China and Western Europe, in particular Great Britain, this book offers a new level of detail on comparative state formation that has wide-reaching implications for European, Eurasian and global history.Beginning with an overview of the historiography, Peer Vries goes on to extend and develop the debate, critically engaging with the huge volume of literature published on the topic to date. Incorporating recent insights, he offers a compelling alternative to the claims to East-West equivalence, or Asian superiority, which have come to dominate discourse surrounding this issue.This is a vital update to a key issue in global economic history and, as such, is essential reading for students and scholars interested in keeping up to speed with the on-going debates.--PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION State, Economy and the Great Divergence provides a new analysis of what has become the central debate in global economic history: the 'great divergence' between European and Asian growth. Focusing on early modern China and Western Europe, in particular Great Britain, this book offers a new level of detail on comparative state formation that has wide-reaching implications for European, Eurasian and global history.Beginning with an overview of the historiography, Peer Vries goes on to extend and develop the debate, critically engaging with the huge volume of literature published on the topic to date. Incorporating recent insights, he offers a compelling alternative to the claims to East-West equivalence, or Asian superiority, which have come to dominate discourse surrounding this issue.This is a vital update to a key issue in global economic history and, as such, is essential reading for students and scholars interested in keeping up to speed with the on-going debates.--Página 4 de cubierta