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Merchants and Mechanics

Exploring the History of Economic Growth

Category: technological progress

Why Were the Americas so Underdeveloped when Europeans Reached Them?

Why Were the Americas so Underdeveloped when Europeans Reached Them?

February 19, 2018February 19, 2023 Posted in history of economic growth, history of technology, technological progress

Eurasia was able to produce food surpluses more than a thousand years before the Americas. Food surpluses led to specialization, which led to rapid development.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution

January 8, 2018December 28, 2022 Posted in history of economic growth, history of trade and commerce, Industrial Revolution, technological progress

Britain experienced a period of rapid technological progress that forever changed the nature of work, and that allowed it to dominate markets around the world.

The Steam Engine

The Steam Engine

January 1, 2018December 28, 2022 Posted in history of economic growth, history of science, history of technology, Industrial Revolution, technological progress

The steam engine powered a new generation of industrial machinery, and gave rise to modes of transportation that would stitch the world together.

Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen in Britain in the Eighteenth Century?

Why Did the Industrial Revolution Happen in Britain in the Eighteenth Century?

December 18, 2017February 16, 2023 Posted in history of economic growth, history of technology, history of trade and commerce, Industrial Revolution, technological progress

The Industrial Revolution occurred because labour was expensive relative to capital and coal, making technologies that replaced labour with machines profitable.

The Division of the World

The Division of the World

December 9, 2017May 13, 2023 Posted in history of economic growth, history of trade and commerce, Industrial Revolution, technological progress

W. Arthur Lewis explained why the world divided into manufacturers and primary producers, and into prosperous temperate countries and poor tropical countries.

How Modern Science Came to China

How Modern Science Came to China

December 7, 2017January 23, 2023 Posted in history of science, history of technology, technological progress

China became aware of Western science in the sixteenth century, but did not embrace it until the Opium Wars demonstrated the West’s technological superiority.

One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Growth

One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Growth

December 2, 2017February 19, 2023 Posted in history of economic growth, history of technology, technological progress

American technological progress was rapid between 1920 and 1970, and slow after 1970. Why was it so rapid before 1970? Why was it so slow after 1970?

Why Nations Fail: 
Extractive and Inclusive Institutions

Why Nations Fail: 
Extractive and Inclusive Institutions

November 27, 2017February 19, 2023 Posted in economic institutions, political institutions, property rights, technological progress

Acemoglu and Robinson argue that a country’s prosperity is determined by its political and economic institutions. Casual empiricism supports their argument.

Why Nations Fail:
 Theory is Tidy, History is Messy

Why Nations Fail:
 Theory is Tidy, History is Messy

November 20, 2017December 28, 2022 Posted in economic institutions, history of economic growth, history of trade and commerce, Industrial Revolution, political institutions, property rights, technological progress

Evidence from the Industrial Revolution does not support Acemoglu and Robinson’s claim that the transition to sustained growth always follows the same pattern.

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