Course Description

Capitalism, the dominant economic system in the modern world, has brought about material affluence, while creating serious labor problems, economic inequality and environmental destruction. It is essential to study the historical development of capitalism in order to objectively and critically rethink such a capitalist society and gain a perspective on a better economic life. In Introduction to Economic History I, we will mainly focus on the medieval and early modern Western European regions, and learn about the process of establishment and development of capitalism from the dismantling of the feudal system there.