Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Gregory Clark and the Industrial Revolution

The New York Times reviews Gregory Clark's book. I've have read just the chapters that were available on-line and I am sure that the book is excellent.
However, his thesis that there was a genetic component in the roots of the Industrial Revolution does not convince me at all. When he presented his paper at the LSE Economic History Seminar, this point was severely criticized. The main reason for criticism is that the speed of biological adaptation is too slow to explain economic changes like the Industrial Revolution. There were even tongue in cheek remarks like:"If you look at my ancestors, probably you would change your mind".

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