European Industrial Revolution and Coal Geography Quiz

European Industrial Revolution and its Key Drivers

• Railway transport in the 19th century led to the spread of the Industrial Revolution in Southern Europe and Scandinavia.
• The initial spread of the Industrial Revolution was shaped by coal geography in Europe.
• Modern economic growth, measured by real GDP per capita, spread across Europe, with sustained per capita GDP growth.
• Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth is crucial for modern economic growth, reflecting factors like technological progress, human capital, institutions, politics, culture, and geography.
• The British Industrial Revolution was influenced by the Glorious Revolution, strengthening parliament and courts, and securing property rights.
• British interest rates caught up with Dutch rates, and the patent system likely resulted in higher TFP growth than reputation and fame alone.
• The Scientific Revolution and its focus on generating useful knowledge played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, facilitating permanent TFP growth.
• Human capital is crucial for modern economic growth, with a shift from slow technological progress to faster progress, leading to rising per capita incomes and demographic transition.
• A simple model suggests that more brains lead to more TFP growth.
• British educational attainment was low compared to European standards during the Industrial Revolution.
• The Industrial Revolution's international spread and the deep roots of modern economic growth are important topics in economic history.
• Intellectual property rights, institutions, and the role of science were significant in driving the Industrial Revolution's spread and impact.

The Impact of Coal on the British Industrial Revolution

• New technologies, such as smelting iron with coke and the Newcomen steam engine, expanded the use of coal, freeing the economy from Malthusian land constraints.
• By 1800, British industry had 170,000 horsepower at its disposal, which increased to almost 10,000,000 horsepower by 1907, while iron production rose from 12,000 tons in 1700 to over 2,000,000 tons in 1850.
• The map of the British Industrial Revolution closely aligns with the map of coalfields, demonstrating the central role of coal in shaping the revolution.
• The world's first iron bridge opened in 1781 in Shropshire, England, signaling the new abundance of iron.
• The escape from Malthus was facilitated by the increase in energy and iron production that became independent from land area.
• The British Industrial Revolution led to induced innovation, international spread, and the deep roots of modern economic growth.
• The modern production function allowed for the substitution of land area with mineral energy, making population increase no longer imply lower per capita income if accompanied by capital stock increase.
• Despite a growing population, English real wage and population level showed rising incomes.
• Per capita income growth in the Solow model can come from capital accumulation or technological progress, with sustained technological progress being necessary for sustained per capita income growth.
• TFP growth during the British Industrial Revolution initially only applied in a few small sectors but later became more visible in aggregate data.
• Induced innovation was driven by the expensive labor meeting cheap energy, creating a lucrative opportunity for innovators to develop coal-powered steam engines for commercial use.
• As steam engines became more efficient, they became part of the cost-minimizing input mix in other coal-abundant regions with relatively high wages, leading to the spread of the Industrial Revolution to other coalfields in Northern France, Belgium, and Western Germany.

European Industrial Revolution and its Key Drivers

• Railway transport in the 19th century led to the spread of the Industrial Revolution in Southern Europe and Scandinavia.
• The initial spread of the Industrial Revolution was shaped by coal geography in Europe.
• Modern economic growth, measured by real GDP per capita, spread across Europe, with sustained per capita GDP growth.
• Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth is crucial for modern economic growth, reflecting factors like technological progress, human capital, institutions, politics, culture, and geography.
• The British Industrial Revolution was influenced by the Glorious Revolution, strengthening parliament and courts, and securing property rights.
• British interest rates caught up with Dutch rates, and the patent system likely resulted in higher TFP growth than reputation and fame alone.
• The Scientific Revolution and its focus on generating useful knowledge played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, facilitating permanent TFP growth.
• Human capital is crucial for modern economic growth, with a shift from slow technological progress to faster progress, leading to rising per capita incomes and demographic transition.
• A simple model suggests that more brains lead to more TFP growth.
• British educational attainment was low compared to European standards during the Industrial Revolution.
• The Industrial Revolution's international spread and the deep roots of modern economic growth are important topics in economic history.
• Intellectual property rights, institutions, and the role of science were significant in driving the Industrial Revolution's spread and impact.