This book examines the relationship between elites, minorities, and economic growth. It focuses on the interaction between social and economic changes during economic growth. At the time of writing, this is an undeveloped subject because it crosses disciplinary boundaries. The first part of the book contains essays on the role of economic and political elites in America, Europe and the Middle East. The second section consists of essays on the role of minorities in past and present industrialization in Europe and Asia. And the final part contains more theoretical approaches that build on the historical essays earlier in the volume. The study should be useful for macroeconomists interested in economic growth, economic historians, sociologists interested in elites, minorities and social mobility and historians of industrialization and economic growth.