Waves of Prosperity

Greg Clydesdale lectures in the Department of Business Management at Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand. He is the author of three books: Entrepreneurial Opportunity, Human Nature, and Waves of Prosperity. His articles have been published in a wide range of academic journals such as Prometheus, Creativity Research Journal, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development.

Waves of Prosperity examines the historical origins of globalization and charts the rise and fall of the world's richest nations, from China in the days of Sung Dynasty to the contemporary globalized world.

In the thirteenth century, Venetian merchant Marco Polo found in China a society far in advance of anything he had encountered in Europe. China's ports were filled with commodities from all over the eastern world and new technology was driving the economy forward. It would be another 400 years before European trade in the Atlantic eclipsed the Pacific markets.

Beyond China, the Mughal merchants of Gujarat built an empire so powerful that even in the seventeenth century the richest man in the world was still a Gujarat trader.

It was not until the opening up of the spice routes and the discovery of South American gold that medieval Iberia overtook Gujarat and the Atlantic Empire of the west came to dominate world trade; first the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century, then the British Empire in the age of the Industrial Revolution, the United States in the twentieth century, increasingly challenged by a developing post-war Japan.

But this is not just the history of empires and nations; it looks at the lives and ideas of merchants and explorers, manufacturers and bankers, emperors and kings. Clydesdale shows clearly how great trading nations rise on a wave of technological and financial innovation and how that very success carries the germ of their inevitable decline.

A history of the rise and fall of the world's riches nations from China in the days of Marco Polo to the fortunes of the Vanderbilts, Astors and the contemporary world of Sony, Intel and modern China.Eye-opening in revealing the flow of wealth through 800 years of world historyShows how fundamental the exchange of commodities and the development of logistics have been to human historyDeals with the ways commerce has changed the world in the last 800 years, opening the way to globalizationRecommended

When the Genoese merchant, Marco Polo, first arrived in Dynastic China he was faced with a society far advanced of anything he had encountered in Europe. The ports were filled with commodities from all over the eastern world, while new technology was driving the economy forward. It would take another 400 years before European trade in the Atlantic eclipsed the Pacific markets.

From China's phenomenally successful Sung dynasty (c. AD 960-1279), Cargoes reveals the power of the Mughals merchants of Gujarat, who built an empire so powerful that, even in the 17th century, the richest man in the world was a Gujarat trader. It was not until the opening up of the spice routes and the discovery of South American gold that medieval Iberia came to the fore. It was only then that the Atlantic Empire of the west came to dominate world trade, first the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century, then the British Empire in the age of the Industrial Revolution, American supremacy in the twentieth century, and the development of post-war Japan.

Along the way Greg Clydesdale looks at the parallel lives and ideas of merchants and explorers, missionaries, kings, bankers and emperors. He shows how great trading nations rise on a wave of technological and financial innovation and how in that success lies the cause of their inevitable decline.