The Long Process of Development: Building Markets and States in Pre-industrial England, Spain, and Their Colonies is a quite interesting book, coauthored by a political scientist who generally works on the Soviet Union and an economist specializing on the political economy of Mexico and Latin America. Its primary intention is to correct the basic errors made by those development economists drawing on the historical record to deal with the problems of contemporary economic growth. The coauthors believe that since WWII development economists have used a succession of models that fail to promote the growth of the less developed world because they have been theoretically and historically flawed. The first approach was modernization theory, then “neoclassical economics” as described by the “Washington Consensus,” and most recently the role of institutions supporting the neoclassical model. None of these, however, has succeeded in providing a usable framework for successful development. The explanations are provided by drawing upon the works of economic historians, most frequently the recent writings of Douglass North. North is credited with a number of major contributions, including a focus on the importance of institutions, although the authors note that “he has never even tried to describe the institutions that he thinks are a pre-condition of an efficient economy, not even by referring to those that Max Weber posited.” Nor does he consider that “hundreds of years are needed for development,” central to the authors argument that long periods of time are necessary to achieve development, even in the case of England (p. 46). North, and most development economists are also faulted for a failure to consider the importance of religion. North is not considered the only scholar to make important contributions to the study of development. Others given favorable attention for important points include Max Weber, Mancur Olson, James Buchanan, Friedrich Hayek, Daron Acemoglou, and James Robinson.

The major historical problem examined is the comparative development of England and Spain after 1200. England is the “good case” and Spain the “bad case,” with little said about the nations like France and the Netherlands, as well as the many other nations throughout the world ranking below also Spain as number 2 in this period. The English pattern of early growth is broken into four periods of about 150 years each: 1066–1302, 1303–1539, 1540–1776, and post-1776, marked by political and economic changes permitting the evolution of a “minimally effective state” into a “truly effective one” (pp. 10–12). Development in Spain lagged behind by about 250 years. Whether the time period necessary for subsequent developers will become shorter or whether the first leader will maintain its position is not discussed in detail. Also unclear is what might lead to a reversal of the leadership position, whether it be a different nation or one of their former colonies. The basic requirements for success do, however, include democratization and political centralization.

The Long Process of Development is a book that provides much historical detail about England, British North America, Spain, and Mexico. It contains many stimulating ideas about the process of development and permits a nice conclusion about the current debates on the difficulties of the European Union; it only started 70 years ago “a rather short time in the framework of the time required both in Europe and the developing world “(p. 408).