Questions for the seminars, September 20, 2017

1. General questions:

What is inequality?

How can you define it?

How do you think it can be measured?

2. Question from the text:

In ''Global Economic History'', p 14, Robert C. Allen writes ''Why has the world become increasingly unequal? Both, fundamentals like geography, institutions, or culture and accidents of history played a role.'' How would you make this statement concrete using examples from Europe in the period 1500¡ª1700? (You are free to use books and other sources) 

3. Particular questions related to the lectures:

a) Black Death:

What are the economic consequences of the black death?

Why did urbanization increase after the black death?

b) Enclosure movement:

Did enclosures of agricultural land lead to a conflict between efficiency and equality?

How can be explain that wages in England were high after the enclosures? Agricultural productivity in England improved during 1700 how would argue that the agricultural wage consequently went up?