Nation Jul 16 The cruel key to individual prosperity: choosing the right ancestors In a column adapted from one of the most provocative economics books of the year, "The Son Also Rises," economic historian Gregory Clark argues that social status is inherited from your parents just as strongly as height.
Nation Jul 14 Is giving money to poor countries doing more harm than good? In designing aid, there's a natural tendency to address immediate needs, economic historian Gregory Clark tells Paul Solman in the fifth and final part of their conversation about his 2007 book, "A Farewell to Alms." But without economic growth first,…
Nation Jul 11 A genetic explanation of economic success There’s nothing to rule out the possibility that the economically successful of the modern world are actually genetically different from the people who are not successful, economic historian Gregory Clark tells Paul Solman in part four of their never-before published…
Nation Jul 10 The key to England’s economic growth: The rich outlived the poor England's economic success, beginning with the takeoff of the Industrial Revolution, can be explained by the "survival of the richest," argues economic historian Gregory Clark in the third installment of his never-before published interview with Paul Solman about his 2007…
Nation Jul 09 How learning to pass the marshmallow test explains global economic evolution Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in England, setting them economically apart from the rest of the world? Contrary to popular economic theory, economic historian Gregory Clark says the existence of market and political institutions had nothing to do with…
Nation Jul 07 A world of woe: Why Malthus was right If you had to choose between living in a hunter-gatherer society and pre-industrial England, which would you pick? The more violent hunter-gatherer society was better: you’d live just as long, with more dietary variety and fewer working hours. Economic historian…