Economic Development in the Middle Ages.

Paper Summary:

This essay examines how economic development had a tremendous impact on the middle ages and early modern period in our history. It explains that the early modern period brought organized government and the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions, which helped establish different nation states as European powerhouses. The paper also looks at the fall of the Roman and Carolingian Empires to the crusades to the Black Death, and points out that there were many tragic and fortunate events that led to improvements in technology and the creation of capitalist economies. The paper then discusses the economic theory of mercantilism and the decline of Christian theology. In conclusion, the paper shows that economic development had a tremendous impact on the Medieval and early modern period due to vast improvements in centralized governments and trade routes which created an influx of money and wealth for European nations.

Outline:
Roman Empire
Middle Ages
Early Modern Period

From the Paper:

"Diocletian and Constantine were responsible for the political reformation of Rome in the fourth century (Spielvogel, 2008, p.116). Diocletian realized that the empire had grown far too large for just one single ruler so he divided the land up into four separate administrative regions (eventually western and eastern parts). Each had its own leader although he still retained absolute power over Rome. Civil and military reforms were now considered separate services from one another and each had its own hierarchy of administrators yet still worked under the overall Roman budget. This separation of powers is commonly used today in capitalist countries. However, this change used up large sums of the budget yet the roman population was not growing and there was no one else left to tax. This presented a problem and they soon realized their empire was suffering from inflation. Diocletian attempted to install new taxation prices but despite severe punishments, was unable to enforce the policies and they did not work. Constantine continued to drain the public funds when he decided to build a "New Rome" near Byzantium, named Constantinople."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brunner,D. and Hagenbusch, S. (2005). Development of institutions in the early modern period. International Buchenbach Workshop for Young Evolutionary Economists. Retrieved from http://www.dbrunner.de/pub/brunner_hagenbusch.pdf
• Spielvogel, J.J. (Ed.). (2008). Western Civilization: A Brief History. Belmont, CA: Thomson Publishing.

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