Two of the other major requirements for the Modern Breakthrough (McCloskey’s term I believe) which I have seen in most profiles of the phenomenon (I have read dozens) have been:
The open nature of three plus new continents with very few people (after disease wiped them out). This not only provided 20X the room to grow in amazingly fertile areas, it also provided an influx of better staple crops (potatoes and corn), timber, and the dynamic ability to establish hundreds of new statelets. This was both a favorable condition leading up to the IR, it also helped it reduce Malthusian constraints. This was a one time only opportunity.
Constructive competition between states. With the advents of gunpowder and cannons, Europe entered into an arms race not just toward military strength, but toward superior organizational problem solving ability. The leaders (first the Dutch, then the Brits, then Americans) were those states that were able to foster creativity and cooperation with less sclerosis and rent seeking. This led to the ascendency of representational government, freed markets with finance and corporations, and so on. IOW, it was an arms race toward organizational effectiveness. Liberal democracies won, barely.
These two forces actually self reinforced each other as did the transition to fossil fuels, machines, science and markets.
If I was to try to oversimplify the Modern Breakthrough to one phrase, it was a phase transition to a higher level of network integration and coordinated problem solving. Consider this explanation a work in progress, so to speak.
Two of the other major requirements for the Modern Breakthrough (McCloskey’s term I believe) which I have seen in most profiles of the phenomenon (I have read dozens) have been:
The open nature of three plus new continents with very few people (after disease wiped them out). This not only provided 20X the room to grow in amazingly fertile areas, it also provided an influx of better staple crops (potatoes and corn), timber, and the dynamic ability to establish hundreds of new statelets. This was both a favorable condition leading up to the IR, it also helped it reduce Malthusian constraints. This was a one time only opportunity.
Constructive competition between states. With the advents of gunpowder and cannons, Europe entered into an arms race not just toward military strength, but toward superior organizational problem solving ability. The leaders (first the Dutch, then the Brits, then Americans) were those states that were able to foster creativity and cooperation with less sclerosis and rent seeking. This led to the ascendency of representational government, freed markets with finance and corporations, and so on. IOW, it was an arms race toward organizational effectiveness. Liberal democracies won, barely.
These two forces actually self reinforced each other as did the transition to fossil fuels, machines, science and markets.
If I was to try to oversimplify the Modern Breakthrough to one phrase, it was a phase transition to a higher level of network integration and coordinated problem solving. Consider this explanation a work in progress, so to speak.