ECON Economic History of the Industrial Revolution John Lovett

Transcription

1 Our 1 st Look at the Question of; Why Europe? Readings: Jones, Eric. (2003). The European Miracle: Environments, Economies and Geopolitics in the History of Europe and Asia (3rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp xxii xxxv and 3-21 I. Some Difficulties A. How far back to go? 1. Rapid growth of per capita GDP did not happen until sometime in the 1700 s or 1800 s 2. But, it makes sense that roots of this change go back much further 3. Jones refers to as Europe s early modern period. Others also use the term early modern Europe. B. What is the best choice of units? 1. Nation-states? These are the units that choose economic policy once we have nationstates But nation-states, especially most of today s nation-states, are a relatively modern phenomena. They don t go back far enough to capture the roots of industrialization. Also, nation-states may be as much affected by its neighbors as its individual policy choice. Nation-states do not evolve in isolation. 2. Empires? Ex. The Holy Roman Empire? These often have shifting borders. They are also a collection of different regions and policies 3. Broader Regions? Yeah, that s the ticket (for Jones) Jones units o Western Europe o As compared to Eastern Europe o the Ottoman Empire [and its predecessor (pre 1300) Muslim states of the Near East] o India, especially the Mughal Empire o China, namely the Ming (late 1300 s 1650) and Manchu (or Qing) dynasties ( ).

2 II. Initial Thoughts re Jones and Why Europe A. Jones is really big on natural disasters (I m personally less so) i. Europe had easier to deal with natural disasters o * Europeans had a lower risk planning environment. This meant it was easier to make long-term investments. o European states became service states in their efforts to deal with natural disaster o These service states evolved to become effective promoters of public infrastructure and economic development ii. Asian states had much more severe natural disasters o This made long-run planning and investment less attractive o Asian states never developed into service states B. For some reason, Asian rulers were more despotic and less restrained than European rulers o Jones was, and still is, often accused of exaggerating the differences between Europe and Asia ii. Property is less secure the more despotic rulers are iii. Incentives to invest are lower the more despotic rulers are iv. Incentives to innovate are lower the more despotic rulers are III. So why did I pick Jones as a reading? # 1: Europe is geographically broken up into many natural core areas A. A pan-european empire was, therefore, not very likely B. Instead, a system of many, competing, states was the result C. If one state picks bad policies, it won t take the entire system down with it. D. Because they are in a highly competitive environment, each state has an incentive to innovate in terms of government and economic policies E. More states in a region mean more experiments. This, in turn, means the likelihood of a successful innovation, somewhere in the region, is higher. F. If one state innovates successfully, others will have the ability and incentive to imitate it. G. While Europe had several natural cores, most of these were large enough to allow for an efficient state IV. So why else did I pick Jones as a reading? # 2: For some reason, W. Europeans had low pressure demographics A. Lower rates of marriage than Asia B. Higher age of female at 1st marriage C. Therefore lower overall fertility (Hajnal. 1965)

3 V. A Brief, & Slightly Inaccurate, Timeline of European Medieval History Dark Ages AD 500 AD 600 AD 700 AD 800 AD 900 AD 1000 AD 1100 AD 1200 AD 1300 AD 1400 Fall of Rome Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages Merovingian/Carolinian/Frankish Empires Viking & Magyar Raiders Rise of Nation States before the heavy plough VI. Some Important Medieval Technological Changes (mostly in the High Middle Ages) A. The heavy plow (with mouldboard and sometimes wheeled) (Let s buy one!!) (horses video) (oxen video) (tractor, reversible, multiple & sandy soil) ploughshare c o u l t e r B. 3 crop rotation replaces 2 crop rotation i. 2 crop: 1 part planted, one part fallow ii. 3 crop: 1 part planted in autumn with wheat or rye, 1 part in spring with oats or peas, and 1 part fallow C. The horse collar Very, very, gradually, horses replace oxen (horses are faster plow pullers but they need oats, are higher maintenance and more expensive) D. Use of water mills to mill wheat, etc. E. Some technological synergy or ratcheting, at least in Europe 3

4 VII. Political Changes (High & Late Middle Ages) A : very small feudal units see below iii.?? Starting around 400 AD, markets shrank. Granting chunks of land to followers became the most important way for big government s (ex. Frankish empires) to get loyal followers. iv.?? Reaction to Viking raids (Jones & others)? Big political units (ex. the Frankish empires) couldn t stop the lightning fast raids, but local power could. v. Dynastic based, often dispersed, and usually small B rise of nation-states see below i. Fewer raiders come into Western and Central Europe. ii. Rise of trade iii. (John) Large siege weapons (ex. trebuchet), combined arms weapons and tactics, plus gunpowder, mean both offensive and defensive warfare must be conducted on a larger and more coordinated scale. A picture of France in 1388 Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 Sep A picture of France in Wikipedia. 4

5 500 miles Possible Natural Geographic Cores Based more on John s natl defensive barriers than Jones agricultural cores. a bit more broken up than it appears England North European Plain The plains keep on going! (just ask Napoleon or Hitler although there are forests in the North) Spain has a few small, internal mountain ranges Po River Valley Hungarian Plain Lower Danube but broken up by mountains Florence to Rome 5

6 a bit more broken up than it appears Possible Natural Geographic Cores India has a few small, internal mountain ranges 500 miles 6

7 China s Landforms maybe not as simple as Jones implies From: China Mike. (2014). Physical Maps of China. Retrieved 10-Sep But I m not sure where China Mike got this. 7

8 VIII. IX. And a wee bit on the Black Death (mid 1300 s) A. Europe was experiencing a pop increase up until the Black Death B. Perhaps diminishing returns to land, i.e. Malthusian constraints would have soon limited growth of per capita GDP C. The Black Death destroyed people, not land or capital. Perhaps, after the initial shock was over, the Black Death was crucial in helping Europe maintain its advance in living standards and technology Technological progress in Europe seems to have been accelerated by the Renaissance (1400 s) and Reformation (1500 s) A. ex. the printing press ( 1450) B. and the printing press was more than just another example of technological progress iv. Knowledge has been remarked as a curious factor of production, for it is not diminished by being used as physical resources are. The stock of knowledge now began to build up in books and libraries. (Jones. 61) v. The ratchet effect so evident in western progress owed much to the superior means of storing and disseminating information. (Jones. 62). A wheeled Heavy plow with mouldboard Normally, I d be using 2 to 8 oxen & it d take 2 people to plow. One person guides the oxen & one guides the plow. Unfortunately, my buddy Hans is at home watching football and drinking beer with the other oxen. (what a funky way to yoke oxen) mouldboard 8