BLOOD AND TREASURE: The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to the Modern Era

1-252170

A history of the economics of warfare from the Viking Age to our current era, revealing how armed conflict has influenced world power. Examines how incentives and institutions have changed over the centuries, surveys how warfare helped drive Europe's rise to global prominence, and it explains how the total wars of the twentieth century required a new type of strategy that took economics seriously. Asks whether Genghis Khan should be regarded as the father of globalization, explains how New World gold and silver kept Spain poor, ponders why some economists think of witch trials as a form of non-price competition, notes how pirate captains were pioneers of effective HR techniques, asks if handing out medals hurt the Luftwaffe in World War II, and assesses if economic theories helped to create a tragedy in Vietnam.