The book is a wide-ranging, exhaustive yet remarkably succinct and accessible review of what Deirdre McCloskey has called the ‘Great Enrichment’, the rise of prosperity that has provided us with a material standard of living unthinkable to any human before the 18th century. Koyama and Rubin take us through a journey of how and why modern economic growth occurred, when and where it did, what mechanisms and elements enabled and sustained such growth, and in which ways it has changed the world forever.

There are several strengths in the book, but three stand out:
1. The authors show that the world is indeed rich and that growth and prosperity have been ‘good’ and a positive development.
2. They outline the main theories that economists have put forward to explain such growth in a balanced and fair way, giving each theory enough space to be judged on its merit.
3. They leave enough ‘breadcrumbs’ on the floor to follow their thinking around such theories towards a complex, dynamic, and coherent picture of how some nations have become ‘rich’ and how others who are not may become so in the future.

In the first and last chapters, we grasp the nature and magnitude of the changes to the world economy that occurred since a small set of North Western European nations started the enrichment revolution around 1750 (keep in mind those two details: ‘North West Europe’ and ‘1750’; they are important themes of the book). Material prosperity is not everything, but anyone would prefer to be rich rather than poor – and the world has indeed moved from a low standard of living to a high one today, with Britain pushing ahead in the 19th century and other nations catching up ever since.

Once the scene is set, the book is structured around the premise that the path to economic prosperity is not homogenous; rather, it is the result of a confluence of factors that vary across different societies and periods. By putting all major theories of growth under the microscope – geography, demography, institutions, culture, colonialism – the main conclusion is that there is no single explanation, no ‘silver bullet’.

However, it is also true that certain factors are shown to be essential for the transition to ‘rich’ nations to occur. Some of these may be ‘latent’ – existing in an undeveloped or inactive state, yet they activate and gain relevance when combined with other elements. Some other factor may require co-integration with another to be effective, similar to an ingredient that is unremarkable alone but is crucial in combination at the correct measure and timing. As Rubin and Koyama show, geography and demography present such characteristics; they play a part in the transition but they need a catalyst. Demography is particularly interesting, as it plays a role bigger than traditionally expected but is dependent on culture for its effect on prosperity and growth to fully materialize – the authors do a good job of identifying the role of the European Marriage Pattern in such a process (a topic which is well covered by another excellent book by Joseph Henrich – ‘The WEIRDest People in the World’).

Similarly, culture and institutions, do not operate in isolation and are significant when they function together in an appropriate dynamic. These two themes, until not so long ago, were seen with some degree of scepticism among economists, especially culture, but now are playing increasingly a central role in the literature. The book contains full chapters on each, and while the discussion is far from exhaustive – there are more than 50 papers written each year on each topic – the authors do an excellent job summarizing some of the best work in these areas.

Institutions, in particular, play a critical role – to the point that the chapter dedicated to it is called ‘Is it all just institutions?’. In fact, one may be tempted to reach that conclusion by the time the reader gets to the discussion of case studies of Britain, other western economies, and China. However, the authors dig a little deeper and consider why different nations develop different institutions and how, why such institutions change over time, and then how cultural beliefs help determine the institutions that a society ends up with.

The most intriguing part of the book is the examination of the role of cultural attitudes and values in economic development. The authors suggest that cultural factors, while harder to quantify, significantly impact the development and effectiveness of institutions. Cultural beliefs matter because they explain why people do what they do and therefore why institutions encourage certain patterns of behavior in some contexts but not in others. As the authors say: “One key reason that culture can affect long-term economic development is that it persists – even after certain traits are long gone, they shape the outlook of the descendants of the societies.”

A further element mentioned in the book, which both authors explore more in detail in some of their other work (Koyama in his book ‘Persecution & Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom’, 2019, and Rubin in his paper ‘Religion and Growth’, 2023), is the role of religion in economic development – in particular, why there is much more to it than the still powerful but simplistic Weberian theory of the Protestant ethic. More needs to be done in this field, but it is clear that religion – via education, trust, or innovation – did play a part, although we just don’t know how much.

The final third of the book is dedicated to the application of the theory to history and the exploration of case studies such as the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the US, Japan and China. Here is where the ‘breadcrumbs’ get thicker, and the authors gently lay out the basics of an ‘enrichment’ theory, whose further development they leave for future work, probably in the interest of space (wanting the book to remain of a digestible length) and balance (avoiding the critique of partiality to a particular view).

Rubin and Koyama argue that there were certain preconditions that Britain and other frontier nations had on the eve of industrialization: limited governance, a large domestic economy, access to Atlantic economies, a set of values which praise hard work, risk-taking and wealth accumulation, and a large base of highly skilled mechanical workers. Some places had some of these preconditions in different degrees, but only Britain had all of them at the same time. They were all necessary, and they had to work together to succeed in the manner they did; in fact, some mattered only in the presence of the others. Britain for example was able to ‘combine and complement scientific production with mechanical skill’ – ideas with education. Once Britain started the process, it then became possible for others to follow suit and begin combining their own preconditions to catch up. The advent of modern economic growth thus created tremendous opportunities for catch-up growth; however, these opportunities were difficult to grasp, and not all societies were able to benefit and/or seize them.

While “How the World Became Rich” provides a broad and insightful analysis, it may draw criticism for its broad strokes approach to complex issues. Some may argue that it oversimplifies the challenges facing developing countries today or that it underestimates the role of external factors such as global trade dynamics, colonisation (which receives a full chapter’s attention) and international politics. It is also light on policy implications and learnings. That is probably an unfair criticism as that was never the purpose of the book, but any reader interested in practical applications may be left asking for more.

In conclusion, “How the World Became Rich” is a thought-provoking and informative read for anyone interested in the dynamics of economic development and the historical processes that have shaped the world’s economic landscape. Its comprehensive analysis, backed by a wealth of historical evidence, makes a compelling case for the importance of institutions, culture, and policy in the quest for economic prosperity. Despite potential criticisms regarding its breadth and complexity, the book stands as a significant contribution to the literature on economic history and development economics.