European Macroeconomy

This book describes the growth and economic integration of the European economy from 1500 to 1913. The authors apply macroeconomic techniques to identify growth rates, inflation, product markets, trade networks and business cycles across a set of countries over the period. The book demonstrates that growth was the natural state for European economics throughout the period although, under the impetus of the industrial revolution, growth rates generally accelerated by the end of the 19th century. Similarly, business cycles in the modern sense seem to have been in evidence at the beginning of the period but by the 18th century there is no doubt that modern cycles affected these countries, sometimes simultaneously. Inflationary episodes are both distinct and shared in this long period, with the long inflation of the 16th century attesting to the integration of European markets. Finally, the authors find abundant quantitative evidence to support the argument that economies linked by international trade in 1500 came close to achieving global integration by 1913.