Kyle Harrison
to-read
How the World Became Rich
How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth
- Author
- Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin
- Published
- 2022
- Pages
- 240
- Recommended
- Once
Why it’s on the list: Koyama and Rubin walk through every serious explanation for the escape from Malthusian poverty — geography, institutions, culture, demography, colonies, coal — and weigh them against each other.
Where I saw it: In the reply thread to @SpencrGreenberg’s question, “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world (or how humanity or society) really works?” (June 5, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved to his Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full set of replies lives on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet). It was listed there as “How the World Became Rich”.
Connections
- Economic Growth — The question the book is organised around.
- Economic History — The field.
- Institutions — One of the leading explanations it weighs.
- Prosperity — The outcome being explained.
- A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.