I just published “Timing Sustained Economic Growth”https://medium.com/p/timing-sustained-economic-growth-4ed67f95bd9c …
-
One thing: if you want to argue innovation could have contributed to growth earlier, then look to agriculture. Employment in English agriculture fell from ~60% of total to ~40% in 1550-1750. But this was about practises: engrossment, crop rotation, turnips, clover, nitrogen, etc.
This applies to nw Europe, but there was also a great deal of population growth, which implies technological or institutional progress in agriculture, during 17th & 18th centuries, in much of East and South Asia not just in nw Europe. Common cause(s)?
-
-
I wouldn't think so. England's agri employment was around 45% in 1700, which is what eg Pakistan is today. That implies something divergent going on a long time ago
-
It's divergent insofar as productivity in nw Europe was growing along with population, but population was growing in many other parts of the world too. Even without productivity growing faster than Malthusian pressure that also implicates improvements & may have common cause(s).
-
what do you have in mind? something like new crops from the New World allowing population growth in the Old?
-
Don't have a strong specific candidate. Something related to the European world navigation and transplanting biota would seem the best place to look. Just wondering who else has looked at this as a global trend and what causes they've considered.
-
agreed, the introduction of sweet potato, maize and peanuts to China made a big difference. China's population tripled from 16th-19th cent, which is quite astonishing
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
technically, increased prices would also do the trick
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.