Historical Experience of Economic Development

History contains a large number of case studies of successful and of frustrated economic development. From the detailed study of these it is possible to gain a general sense of the combinations of circumstances which in the past have been favourable to development. But it is not feasible to concentrate this experience into anything which can be dignified with the name of lessons of history. All I have attempted to do in the present paper is first to consider an hypothesis about the form which economic development has taken, and secondly to examine four out of the many relevant influences on that development.