New World Economies The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada [Hardcover]

New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canadaexamines the economic development of both the original American colonies and early French Canada, looking at the impact of changing prices, capital flows, and shifts in demand. It is a companion volume to Marc Egnal's well-regarded earlier book,Divergent Paths, which emphasized the influence of culture and institutions upon growth.New World Economiesstudies transatlantic ties and sets forth a rigorous model to explain the pattern of growth. It features seventeen tables and more than one hundred graphs, many of which are based on original data. Several appendices present these valuable new statistics.

Egnal's core argument is that the pace of economic development in the colonies reflected the rate of growth in the mother country. In advancing this central notion, the book employs a theoretical foundation that builds upon, and then moves beyond, the traditional staple thesis. Thoroughly documented and rich in quantitative data, this study traces the trajectory of economic growth by region and establishes a clear connection between colonial and European rates of growth.

Given its clear arguments, its rich data, and its persuasive overall method,New World Economieswill interest scholars and students of economic history, of American and French-Canadian colonial culture, and of transatlantic relations during the eighteenth century.

Within a relatively short compass Egnal provides considerable detail and comparative analysis...This book is stimulating and thought-provoking... --Choice

We should applaud Egnal's effort to build a model that simultaneously compares New World regions and incorporates them into the transatlantic economy. --Journal of Southern History

New World Economicsis unusually interesting, challenging, and absorbingly well-written. Its elaborately comparative structure--EnglandlSÆ