Ken Pomeranz came through Berkeley earlier today, giving a very, very impressive show on "Re-Thinking the Late Imperial Chinese Economy: Development, Disaggregation, and Decline in the 18th and 19th Centuries."(posted 8756 days ago)If you have a seminar budget, invite him. I haven't heard a more interesting economic history talk this year...
Among other things, he has convinced me that I won't be able to stay in this business ten more years unless I can discourse as learnedly on comparative patterns of economic growth *within* China (and India too) as well as I can discourse on patterns within Europe or across the Americas.
So I have started memorizing the list of Chinese regions: Manchuria, North China, Northwest China, Xinjiang, Tibet, Upper Yangtse, Middle Yangtse, Lower Yangtse, Southeast Coast... uh-oh... Greater Guangdong, and... uh-oh again... Greater Yunnan.