DRAFT

CRITICAL REVIEW

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations:

Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
by
David S. Landes
W.W. Norton & Company: New York, NY, 1998
I.Introduction

672 pages. Common knowledge reveals that currently, the rich of this world are getting richer

and the poor, poorer. According to Landes, “Now the big challenge and threat is the gap in

wealth and health that separates rich and poor…the difference in income per head between the

richest industrial nation, say Switzerland, and the poorest nonindustrial country, Mozambique, is

about 400 to 1. Two hundred and fifty years ago, this gap between richest and poorest was

perhaps 5 to 1, and the difference between Europe and, say, East or South Asia (China or India)

was around 1.5 or 2 to 1” (p. xx). And this gap is growing.

In this book, David S. Landes, professor emeritus at Harvard University, noted historian, and

author of Bankers and Pashas, The Unbound Prometheus, and Revolution in Time, attempts to

offer an historical explanation of this gap between the wealthy and the poor. In his analysis,

Landes deliberately abandons neoclassical, orthodox, Marxist, and Dependency School theories

of economic development and wealth imbalances.

A. Purpose

In his introduction, Landes states, “My aim in writing this book is to do world history…I

thought to trace and understand the main stream of economic advance and modernization: how

have we come to where and what we are, in the sense of making, getting, and spending” (p. xi).

The purpose of this book is to review, examine, and analyze history for the reasons and

factors which have contributed to the existence of the gap between the wealthy and the poor of

this planet. Specifically, Landes tries to explain why Europe (and the rest of the “West”) took the

lead in changing the world.

B. Method

Landes uses an historical analysis, conducting a global region-by-region survey. He begins

by discussing geography and its impact on different regions’ modernization and economic
development. He then discusses agriculture, population, gender, government, technological

innovations, and religion and ideology.

C. Thesis

Landes’ attempts to prove that the gap between the rich and the poor is a result of culture. He

states: “If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes

all the difference” (p. 516). Extending his thesis, Landes argues that the key factor, the driving

force, behind the process of progress has been Western civilization and its dissemination all over

the world – the knowledge along with the political and social ideologies (p. 513).

II.Summary

Landes approaches European industrialization historically. He contends that Europe had

conditions favorable to industrialization. Europe’s geography and climate were instrumental.

The European landscape was made up of dense hardwood forests which contained soils that were

only mediocre for agriculture. Because of the Gulf Stream, Europe had a temperate climate with

year round rainfall. Its winters killed off diseases that could destroy crops. The land was

fragmented into small, separate, self-sufficient townships, villages, and manors which were

located by lakeshores and grasslands. Europe’s population was small relative to its land mass and

families were smaller. Women were allowed to work outside the home and were expected to

produce. Furthermore, Europe embraced the concept of private property. The independent

merchant class developed commercial codes. Secularism was also embraced. There was a

distinction between cultural ideas, religion, morality, and the state. This allowed for greater

freedom for activity and change and also greater freedom for commerce. People were allowed to

keep their gains, which freed them up to innovate, create changes, and expand technologically.

Landes further states that from the 8th through the 11th centuries, Europe borrowed, advanced,

and applied technology, much obtained from other countries, such as China. This helped it

increase agricultural productivity through the efficient use of the production process. From the

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11th through the 14th centuries, more inventions and technologies such as waterwheels, eyeglasses,

the mechanical clock, printing, the use of gunpowder, and navigation were developed and

expanded. This technological change was supported by Europe’s openness, especially when

directed toward the productiveness of society.

This change was further supported by the Protestant break from the church. Calvinism was

responsible for this change. Previously, most major religions in Europe did not accept merchants’

lack of morals. Profit and usury were considered to be immoral. With Calvinism, the view on

financial activities were changed. Business callings were sanctioned on the basis of

predestination. A number of virtues were embraced. Material gain became acceptable. The

Protestant work ethic, in which one benefited from his/her own endeavors, was now acceptable.

Individualism was expressed. Now, no intermediary was needed between man and God. Literacy

for both men and women was encouraged. Thrift, savings, and delayed gratification became

welcome attributes. Added to this were Judeo-Christian virtues. Manual labor was no longer

looked down on. The belief that nature is subservient to man was taken on, as well as the belief

in linear time. In addition, the market, enterprise, and innovation were now virtues. These values

were part of the foundation of the Industrial Revolution.

The above led to a new conception of wealth. The focus was on production, higher levels of

technology, higher division of labor, and the freedom to innovate. This was bound to the need for

a continuous process of capital investment.

The Industrial Revolution was based on the factory system in which production necessitated

the bringing of people together in one place with specialization of tasks. Machines were used as

substitutes for human labor, inanimate sources of power became new sources of energy, raw

material was substituted first, with charcoal, and then with coal, and steam engines were

developed to power the many mechanical devices used in the factory production process.

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 According to Landes, this industrialization process resulted in Europe becoming a winner in

the modernization process and other countries which eschewed the full development of this

process, such as China, Africa, certain Asian countries, the Middle East, and South America,

ending up as economic losers.

III.Critique

“No new light has been thrown on the reason why poor countries are poor and rich countries

are so rich.” Paul Samuelson, “Illogic of Neo-Marxian Doctrine,” p. 107, in 1976 (p. xvii) –

Landes sheds no new light either.

Landes does not talk about poverty within economically and technologically advanced

nations and the growing gaps between the rich and poor within these countries. Only a few

citizens and corporations own the mass of global wealth.

-blatantly Eurocentric in his bias

-dismisses dependency theorists, etc. [find in book]

-European Protestant work ethic does not work for all or most countries. If this were so, most

countries would also be wealthy and the gap between the rich and the poor would not be so wide.

There are many poor people around the world working very hard.

-does not speak of the distribution of wealth; not all people are allowed access to wealth,

despite their work efforts and ethics.

-“And what of the poor themselves? History tells us that the most successful cures for

poverty come from within. Foreign aid can help, but like windfall wealth, can also hurt…No,

what counts is work, thrift, honesty, patience, tenacity.” (p. 523)

-Judeo-Christian slant; biblical quotes throughout the text.

DID I LIKE THIS IN GENERAL? WHY?

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 DID I AGREE WITH THE MAIN THEME/PURPOSE? WHY OR WHY NOT?

WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID I LIKE/DISLIKE? WHY?

DID THE AUHTOR DO A GOOD JOB? WHY OR WHY NOT?

DID THE BOOK ACHIEVE ITS GOAL?

WHAT POSSIBILITIES ARE SUGGESTED BY THE BOOK?

WHAT HAS THE BOOK LEFT OUT?

HOW DOES THE BOOK COMPARE TO OTHERS ON THE SUBJECT?

WHAT SPECIFIC POINTS ARE NOT CONVINCING?

WHAT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES HAVE I HAD THAT ARE RELATED TO THE

SUBJECT?

HOW COULD IT BE IMPROVED? WHY WOULD PARTICULAR CHANGES HELP?

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 WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?

RELATE THE BOOK TO LARGER ISSUES: How did the book affect you? How have your

opinions about the topic changed? How is the book related to your own course or personal

agenda?

CONCLUSION: Close with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in

the review.