The lever of riches
technological creativity and economic progress
by Joel Mokyr · first published 1990
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Economic history of how technological creativity drove growth, praised for its account of innovation and the Industrial Revolution; suits readers curious why some societies got rich and what ideas contributed.
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…publicly funded) research to show that. Here's a recent paper on patents and innovation: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.27.1.3, or read Joel Mokyr's "The Enlightened Economy" or "The Lever of Riches" and see how James Watt held up the widespread commercialization of the steam engine by refusing to allow his patents to be used downstream (or read the NBER financed study on the impact of patents on…
on “Universities warn Congress that patent reform would harm US innovation” ↗If you like this subject check out the book "The Lever of Riches" which is an in-depth study of the issue: http://www.amazon.com/Lever-Riches-Technological-Creativity-...
on “Harvard Study Finds Weaker Copyright Protection Has Benefited Society” ↗1. The Lever of Riches, by Joel Mokyr 2. Guns Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond 3. A Farewell to Alms, by Gregory Clark 4. Power and Prosperity, by Mancur Olsen 5. Carnage and Culture, Victor Davis Hanson 6. Capital Ideas,…
on “Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?” ↗…viable positive sum technology ecosystems. That being said, here are six technology historians I have found very insightful: Donald Cardwell in "Turning Points in Western Technology" Joel Mokyr in "Lever of Riches" and "Gifts of Athena" Edward Hutchinson in "Cognition in the Wild" James Utterback "Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation" David A. Mindell "Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing…
on “We Need a New Science of Progress” ↗…would also be an interesting challenge to model the Industrial Revolution accurately. The Civilization tech tree is a good first approximation but in reading "The Lunar Men" by Jenny Uglow "The Lever of Riches" by Joel Mokyr "Turning points in Western Technology by Donald Cardwell you get a very different impression. This could tie in to "Science of Progress" thinking in https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-...
on “The historical accuracy of medieval city-builder video games” ↗…“handbook of X economics” or “handbook of the economics of X” are high - those should be good surveys. Similarly a paper in the “annual review of economics” Also mokyr has a bunch of work on Amazon. “The lever of riches” is a classic. “A culture of growth” is well regarded. Finally he has a forthcoming book called “two paths to prosperity” with two other distinguished guys - one Econ historian (greif) and one political…
on “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025” ↗Developing nations (as the US was in the past) typically do not care much about IP. Read "The Lever of Riches" for a history of economic growth and IP law.
on “Dow plunges more than 950 points after China devalues its currency” ↗…you look across all of the active civilizations across all of human history. The conditions in the US currently, and Pax Americana more generally, are extremely rare in the history. [1] Joel Moker's Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress. I'd also highly recommend Moker's "The Gifts of Athena"
on “SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines on a Super Heavy rocket last night” ↗…of the World), notably Pomeranz, The Great Divergence, Clark's A Farewell to Alms, and Mokyr's on (not part of the series) Gifts of Athena, A Culture of Growth, The British Industrial Revolution, and Lever of Riches. The question of "why Europe and not China?" is literally The Needham Question, which occupied British sinologist Joseph Needham for his entire life (and beyond -- his Science and Civilisation in China…
on “How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong” ↗…been a major driver of cultural change as well." Though off-topic, you might find this interesting: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/06/08/a-brief-history-of-the-... Venkat's blog post led me to a book, Lever of Riches ... which I think has a lot of useful insights yet seriously flawed. But, it is interesting as a survey of technological history and look at changes within culture as well. I did not know, for example,…
on “Facebook is scaring me” ↗