摘要
經濟史是人類經濟活動的軌跡，是說明人類在自然環境與制度架構下，以追求勞動生產力之提高。只是此一生產力，是一般化平均勞動生產力(GAP(下標 L))。由於在GAP(下標 L)中，考慮到其他要素貢獻，是以，溶入生產函數意念，可知GAP(下標 L)是取決於勞動技巧、資本財數量、非體現型技術及體現型技術進步。 由於經濟活動是在制度架構下進行，所以，生產成本中除含有轉換成本與交易成本外，還有非市場的傳送成本。這些非市場成本即是政治制度和經濟制度的直接或間接成本。此成本可分成外顯成本，例如稅捐，這使整體成本上升。內隱的傳送成本，通常是政策或制度的副作用。此內隱成本可為正值（使整體成本上升）或為負值（使整體成本下降）。此一傳送成本在人類經濟史中扮演關鍵性角色。為掌握發展大勢，最好能將經濟史劃分為若干發展階段，而且最好是始於封建時期，因為此時是近代國家雛型。以西歐言，封建體制最盛時期是在西元900~1300年；其後200年，則為灰暗時代；然後於1500~1750年，為重商主義階段；1750~1780年為重農主張期間，1780年起為資本主義紀元。此一過程於中國漢初時期以前即已發生，大致上西周為封建時期，春秋是灰暗時代，戰國為重商主義，秦始皇與漢初為重農，而文景之治則為資本主義在中國萌芽。 在封建時期，政治上封建配合著經濟上莊園，故政治制度與經濟制度一致而均衡，以辯證語言來說，此為「正」；灰暗時代，封建制度漸趨解構，故為「反」，在重商主義階段，政治上趨於專制，經濟上趨於統制，使政治與經濟制度再次均衡（此是合，亦是正），但重農主張之出現，當然是對重商主義的「反」動，經自由經濟思想發酵，促成資本主義的產生，民主政治與自由經濟相統合，又形成一個「合」。 就小國言，政治是上層構築，經濟是下層構築，故經濟制度變動將會導致政治制度改變，形成新的均衡，但在大國情況則反是，而政治為下層構築，成為穩定均衡。即於失衡後，會恢復原先之均衡位置，但須注意者，若能政治民主化與經濟自由化則大國與小國無異。
並列摘要
Economic history is the path of human economic activity. It is traces the human effort to raise labor productivity under certain natural circumstances and institution frameworks. It should be noted that this productivity is best captured by the General Average Productivity of Labor (GAPL). The GAPL incorporates the contribution from factors other than labor. In terms of a production function concept, the GAPL depends on labors skill, capital quantity, embodied & disembodied technical progress. Due to this institutional framework, the cost of production will include transformation cost, transaction cost and transmission cost. These are non-market costs that are direct or indirect costs of political and economical institutions. It could be explicit, such as taxes, which would increase overall cost. The implicit transmission cost, which are usually side effects of policy or institutions could be either positive or negative (in the negative form, the overall cost could be lowered). This transmission cost is becoming an increasingly important part of the economic history of man. To better grasp the big picture, it is best to divide economic history into several development stages. We can roughly divide European history into Feudalism (900-1300), the Dark Ages (1300-1500), Mercantilism (1500-1750), Physiocraticism (1750-1780), and Capitalism (1780-). Such periodization was already evident by the early han Dyansty in China. From West Chou to the early Epoch of Spring and Autumn (770-404 BC.) was the Feudalistic state; the Epoch of Spring and Autumn resembled the Dark Ages of Europe; the Period of Warring States (404-221 B.C.) was Mercantilism; the Chin dynasty (221-203 B.C.) and the first emperor of the Han dynasty experienced a short period of Physiocracticism; the laissez faire of Emperors Wen and Jing (179-143 B.C.) of the Han dynasty gave birth to the early signs of Capitalism. For the stage of feudalism, the political system is feudal while the economic system is manor, these two systems are in harmony, in term of dialectic, this is ”thesis”; the dark ages meant the destruction of feudalism, which becomes the ”antithesis”; finally, mercantilism emerges, the political autocracy and command economy forms another equilibrium, forming the ”synthesis”. However, as far as the next stage is concerned, the synthesis simply the ”thesis”. The emergence of physiocracy forms the ”antithesis” against mercantilism, and with the arrival of political democracy and free economy, a new ”synthesis” is formed. Actually the above process could be only used to explain the case of small country, in which, political system is superstructure, while economic system is the primary structure. This is an unstable equilibrium, where a disturbance in the economic institutions will lead to changes in the political institution. In the case of big country, the superstructure is the economic system, forming a stable equilibrium. In other words, after a shock that shifts the economy into disequilibrium, it will natural return to the original equilibrium state. It should be noted that if political democracy and free economy can be established in a large country, it will behave in the same manner as a small economy, i.e. an unstable equilibrium.