Bourgeois dignity
by Deirdre N. McCloskey · first published 2010
75% recommend25% neutral
Bourgeois Dignity turns to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe to reconsider the birth of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism. According to McCloskey our modern world was not the product of new markets or imperial theft, but rather of shifting opinions about the economy. Talk of private property, commerce, innovation, and the bourgeoisie radically altered, becoming far more approving and contradicting prejudices several millennia old. The wealth of nations, then, didn't grow so dramatically after 1800 because of economic factors; it grew because rhetoric about markets,
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Great comment. Incidentally, have you come across Deirdre Mccloskey, I've been reading her book 'Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World' and finding it really interesting. Economics is a social science, taking measurements / accumulating data and theorising on that data causes changes in behaviour.…
on “Economics Has a Math Problem” ↗…is OK to want to make money and to innovate (it was a new idea at the time). To think otherwise places you either back before 1800 or in Sweden. If you would like to learn more I recommend the book "Bourgeois Dignity: A Revolution in Rhetoric" by Deirdre McCloskey.
on “Is it OK to Want to Make Money?” ↗> This exporting of goods is what drove the British, and the Imperial powers in general, and what produced a wealthy economy in those countries. Deirdre N. McCloskey in her book 'Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World' does a pretty good job of explaining that this imperial trade (amongst other factors) doesn't do enough to explain why The West became wealthy. To quote…
on “China” ↗…things being their survival needs and go on to trade them. This raises all sorts of concerns and has cause many a lot of stress. Blaming 'capital' seems fairly erroneous. Deirdre Mccloskey, in her book 'Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World' has a very convincing go at turning the idea into a fallacy. The accumulation and use of capital isn't, in and of itself, a bad thing. How much good has…
on “Facebook completes construction of first full-scale aircraft, Aquila [video]” ↗I recently read the book "Bourgeois Dignity" by Dierdre McCloskey, and it makes a somewhat similar argument backed up by serious historical research. The thesis of the book is that the respectability of inventing, doing business, "getting rich"…
on “We Don't Know, But Let's Try It” ↗…cities to be better. Lander owners kept their land and bought machinery to work it. It's been a very long time since the common people worked the commons. Suggest you have a look at Deirde N. McCloskey's 'Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World', it does a decent job of dispelling every economic myth.
on “The sharing economy has succeeded because the real economy has been struggling” ↗Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World by Deirdre McCloskey, and presumably the other books in the series[1] 1. Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗In support of this, have you happened across Deirdre McCloskey, and her tomes Bourgeois Dignity and two books that follow. She does a decent job of thrashing out, at length, why the dignity to participate in the free market by innovating and bringing those innovations to market is the thing that…
on “Basic income is just the beginning as Finland looks to citizen-driven governance” ↗I think you would agree with Deirdre N. McCloskey who, in her tome Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World[1], thoroughly thrashes out the idea that the thing that made the difference is the dignity of the middle class to be able to bring an innovation to market.…
on “China is catching up to the USA, while Japan is being left behind” ↗…longer hours. > but has not really succeeded in shedding much light on where innovation comes from or what policies support it. Deirdre N. McCloskey might have something to say about that in her tomb 'Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World'[1][2]. tl;dr her argument is that the ability to bring innovation to market, profit, and be dignified in doing so is the factor that brought about the modern…
on “Will minimum wage hikes lead to a huge boost in automation? Only if we're lucky” ↗…servicing myself, I lack a few specialist tools that would make the tasks efficient and enjoyable, so I outsource some / most if it as I choose. 1. Deirde McCloskey bangs on endlessly about this in her book Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_Dignity 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competent_man
on “Buying time promotes happiness” ↗…Personal anecdote: I had said this very same thing for years until I had my first child. Interesting how perspectives. 1. The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined - Steven Pinker 2. Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World - Deirdre N. McCloskey Edit: I didn't downvote you, by the way.
on ““Poor people don’t plan long-term. We’ll just get our hearts broken”” ↗Interesting summary on the topic of "what changed to allow progress to happen?", from the intro to the book "Bourgeois Dignity" by Dierdre McCloskey: https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/556659.html
on “Ask HN: Do you also marvel at the complexity of everyday objects?” ↗