This is a comprehensive long-run history of economic and political change in the Iberian Peninsula. Beginning with the development of the old medieval kingdoms, it goes on to explore two countries, Portugal and Spain, which during the early modern period possessed vast empires and played an essential role in the global economic and political developments. It traces how and why both countries began to fall behind during the first stages of industrialization and modern economic growth only to achieve remarkable economic development during the second half of the twentieth century. Written by a team of leading historians, the book sheds new light on all aspects of economic history from population, agriculture, manufacturing and international trade to government, finance and welfare. The book include extensive new data and will be an essential work of reference for scholars of Portugal and Spain and also of comparative European economic development.

This book offers a fascinating exploration of the evolution of the Portuguese economy over the course of eight centuries, from the foundation of the kingdom in 1143, when political boundaries began to take shape in the midst of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, and the formation of an empire, to the integration of the nation into the European Communities and the Economic and Monetary Union. Through six chapters, the authors provide a vibrant history of Portugal's past with a focus ranging from the medieval economy and the age of globalization, to war and recovery, the Atlantic economy, the rise of liberalism and patterns of convergence. The book provides a unique long-term perspective of change in a southern European country and its empire, which responds to the fundamental broader questions about when, how and why economies expand, stagnate or contract.