The Early Modern Great Divergence: Wages, Prices and Economic Development in Europe and Asia, 1500-1800

@article{Broadberry2005TheEM,
  title={The Early Modern Great Divergence: Wages, Prices and Economic Development in Europe and Asia, 1500-1800},
  author={Stephen Broadberry and Bishnupriya Gupta},
  journal={Wiley-Blackwell: Economic History Review},
  year={2005}
}
Contrary to the claims of Pomeranz, Parthasarathi and other ‘world historians’, the prosperous parts of Asia between 1500 and 1800 look similar to the stagnating southern, central and eastern parts of Europe rather than the developing northwestern parts. In the advanced parts of India and China, grain wages were comparable to those in northwestern Europe, but silver wages, which conferred purchasing power over tradable goods and services, were substantially lower. The high silver wages of… 
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