In the course of the 19th century, average
incomes per capita in the United Kingdom rose
by a factor of six. In other words, people
in 1900 were six times better off than they
had been—or their ancestors been, rather—a
hundred years earlier.
The Industrial Revolution was a true turning point in human history.
In previous centuries, the standard of living
had remained constant for hundreds and hundreds of years.
It would take typically 300 to 400
years for the standard of living to improve
even by as little as 50 percent. So to have
this kind of increase in living standards
in just a hundred years was something truly
novel in human history.
Certain people in Europe, initially the Dutch
and then the British, came to value trade
and commerce and business highly. Instead
of despising and looking down on merchants,
wealth creators, and traders, they began to
esteem them. And as a result, a lot more talent,
if you like, went into those kinds of endeavors.
The development of what one historian calls an “engineering culture,” particularly in Britain;
one which integrates pure scientific
research with their practical applications
in technology is what leads to an increasingly
rapid rate of technical innovation. When you
combine that with increased entrepreneurialism,
what you get is a revolution in production
and business organization.
