[marginalium]
Could Rome have had an industrial revolution?
11 Aug 2024
Could Rome have had an industrial revolution? The author thinks it was the printing press (or lack thereof). But interesting throughout.
Adam Smith said “Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.” Rome had all of these and more, but yet did not succeed in cultivating an industrial revolution.
Why not? What was the binding constraint on a Roman industrial revolution?
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