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• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

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ISSN 2409-630X (Print), ISSN 2618-916X (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.046.015.201903.219-240

УДК 94

Arseny Ju. Ermolov

Institute of Economics, the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia),e-mail: fhctybq@mail.ru

 

Foreign Trade as a Means of Overcoming Environmental Problems in the Early Modern Era: the Possible Application of the Concept of Kenneth Pomeranz to Trade Relations between Western and Eastern Europe

 

Introduction. The article discusses the impact of trade with Eastern Europe on the British industrial revolution. The author uses the concept of K. Pomeranz described in the book “The Great Divergence”. But the author does not agree with his assessment of the role of Eastern Europe. Discussion and Conclusion. The author proves that the dynamics of trade between Eastern and Western Europe in the Early Modern era was not always stagnant. The hundred-year period of stagnation was not caused by bad Eastern European institutions, but was part of the global crisis of the XVII century. Trade with Eastern Europe was important as a source of “phantom acres” that reduced the environmental burden. It provided Britain with more “phantom acres” and did so during the critical period of the beginning of the industrial revolution. The importance of trade with America was also critical, as it provided the precious metals and colonial goods needed to trade with Eastern Europe. Both these regions were important for saving the West from falling into the Malthusian trap.

Keywords: global trade, Baltic trade, grain trade, iron trade, Malthusian trap.

For citation: Ermolov A. Yu. Foreign Trade as a Means of Overcoming Environmental Problems in the Early Modern Era: the Possible Application of the Concept of Kenneth Pomeranz to Trade Relations between Western and Eastern Europe. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2019; 15(3): 219–240. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.046.015.201903.219-240.

 

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