A Culture of Growth : The Origins of the Modern Economy / Joel Mokyr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mokyr, Joel, author.

Contributor:

Anand, Anu.

Series:

The Graz Schumpeter lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history.

Economic development.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (418 pages)

Edition:

Unabridged.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

audio file

Summary:

Why Enlightenment culture sparked the Industrial RevolutionDuring 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.Mokyr looks at the period 1500-1700 to show that a politically fragmented Europe fostered a competitive "market for ideas" and a willingness to investigate the secrets of nature. At the same time, a transnational community of brilliant thinkers known as the "Republic of Letters" freely circulated and distributed ideas and writings. This political fragmentation and the supportive intellectual environment explain how the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe but not China, despite similar levels of technology and intellectual activity. In Europe, heterodox and creative thinkers could find sanctuary in other countries and spread their thinking across borders. In contrast, China's version of the Enlightenment remained controlled by the ruling elite.Combining ideas from economics and cultural evolution, A Culture of Growth provides startling reasons for why the foundations of our modern economy were laid in the mere two centuries between Columbus and Newton.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Part I. Evolution, Culture, and Economic History

Chapter 1. Culture and Economics

Chapter 2. Nature and Technology

Chapter 3. Cultural Evolution and Economics

Chapter 4. Choice-based Cultural Evolution

Chapter 5. Biases in Cultural Evolution

Part II. Cultural Entrepreneurs and Economic Change, 1500-1700

Chapter 6. Cultural Entrepreneurs and Choice-based Cultural Evolution

Chapter 7. Francis Bacon, Cultural Entrepreneur

Chapter 8. Isaac Newton, Cultural Entrepreneur

Part III. Innovation, Competition, and Pluralism in Europe, 1500-1700

Chapter 9. Cultural Choice in Action: Human Capital and Religion

Chapter 10. Cultural Change and the Growth of Useful Knowledge, 1500-1700

Chapter 11. Fragmentation, Competition, and Cultural Change

Chapter 12. Competition and the Republic of Letters

Part IV. Prelude to the Enlightenment

Chapter 13. Puritanism and British Exceptionalism

Chapter 14. A Culture of Progress

Chapter 15. The Enlightenment and Economic Change

Part V. Cultural Change in the East and West

Chapter 16. China and Europe

Chapter 17. China and the Enlightenment

Epilogue. Useful Knowledge and Economic Growth

References

Index

Participant:

Narrator: Anu Anand.

Notes:

"The Graz Schumpeter Lectures."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-379) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

0-691-25167-3

0-691-18096-2

OCLC:

1013723754