A culture of growth: the origins of the modern economy

Description

During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this revolution begin in the West and not elsewhere, and why did it continue, leading to today's unprecedented prosperity? In this groundbreaking book, celebrated economic historian Joel Mokyr argues that a culture of growth specific to early modern Europe and the European Enlightenment laid the foundations for the scientific advances and pioneering inventions that would instigate explosive technological and economic development. Bringing together economics, the history of science and technology, and models of cultural evolution, Mokyr demonstrates that culture--the beliefs, values, and preferences in society that are capable of changing behavior--was a deciding factor in societal transformations;Evolution, culture, and economic history. Culture and economics ; Nature and technology ; Cultural evolution and economics ; Choice-based cultural evolution ; Biases in cultural evolution -- Cultural entrepreneurs and economic change, 1500-1700. Cultural entrepreneurs and choice-based cultural evolution ; Francis Bacon cultural entrepreneur ; Isaac Newton, cultural entrepreneur -- Innovation, competition, and pluralism in Europe, 1500-1700. Cultural choice in action : human capital and religion ; Cultural change and the growth of useful knowledge, 1500-1700 ; Fragmentation, competition, and cultural change ; Competition and the republic of letters -- Prelude to the Enlightenment. Puritanism and British exceptionalism ; A culture of progress ; The Enlightenment and economic change -- Cultural change in the East and West. China and Europe ; China and the Enlightenment ; Useful knowledge and economic growth