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CIAO DATE: 03/02
Critical Review
The Birth of Economic Competitiveness: Rejoinder to Breckman and Trägårdh
By Liah Greenfeld
Abstract
In The Worth of Nations I proposed that nationalism was a major factor in the emergence of the modern, growth-oriented economy. In response to criticisms, I demonstrate here the nationalistic inspiration of seventeenth-century English -- or British -- economic tracts. Urging a reconsideration of earlier approaches (such as that of W.W. Rostow) to the problem of why -- rather than how -- the modern economy emerged, I agree with Max Weber's challenge to the naturalness of our proclivity for constant economic expansion, while departing from his explanation for it.