Book review - The Wealth of Man, Peter Jay

Peter Jay's The Wealth of Man is a sweeping summary of the history of man's economic growth. Along the lines of David Landes' The Wealth of Nations, it traces the human economic saga from pre-historic days to the Greek and Roman civilizations, to the transfer of the economic engine to the Levant, and the parallel economies in India and China. Jay also fascinates with trivia of how horses were domesticated, why spectacles were invented, how Isaac Newton influenced the use of the gold standard for British currency, and how Greek literature was actually preserved due to it being translated into Arabic during the European Dark Ages.

The repeated cycle of growth, which Jay describes as a waltz motif is:
1. Humanity discovers a revolutionary paradigm-changing and this results in a huge spurt in economic growth - discovery of agriculture, or the industrial revolution.
2. Tyrants, thieves, and other assorted malicious characters wade in to exploit this economic growth.
3. Social, governmental or legal structures are put in place to regulate the exploitation of the economic engine and prevent its plunder.

Jay's style of writing is extremely pleasing to read, and anyone with an interest in history or economics should definitely give it a read. His humor is just right, and his negative remarks against laissez-faire economics or other global economic phenemona are neither disparaging nor caustic.

I have two reservations with the book, though. The first is with the depth of the book. At 400-odd pages it is barely enough to cover something as complex, diverse, and expansive as human economic growth. It serves as an excellent introduction, though for a deeper intensive study of the subject. The second reservation is his almost complete lack of analysis of the impact of religion on economic growth. There is not even the mention of Max Weber's groundbreaking studies in this regard, and this leaves you with a feeling of having missed one of the main acts in the entire play. For instance, he mentions that it was Europe that led the way with the Industrial Revolution, and for no apparent reason, China and India missed the boat completely. That religion and the culture of the people may have had something to do with this is covered very perfunctorily.