The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress

Joel Mokyr's Lever of Riches is a book on technological creativity. Throughout his book Mokyr searches for the variables that affect the technological change. As it is deduced from the text that the technology, by itself, is not the only cause of the richness of a nation, but the interactions among the law, trade, administration, institutions and inventions create the vital, and generally short-lived, environment for the technological progress which yields to richness.It is clearly seen from The Lever of Riches that Mokyr follows a scientific methodology with which he tests hypothesises of different historians who tried to solve the technological progress mystery, and he refutes most of these hypothesis by using sound justifications. From chemistry to agriculture, metallurgy to shipping, by narrating the different inventions of the historical periods from classical antiquity to year 1914, Mokyr tries to address the causes of technological progress.I was quite satisfied by the explanations made by Mokyr, especially the attitudes of societies, the techniques used before and after 1850, the policy on patent system, the dispute between guilds and firms, comparison of China and Europe, the evolution of macro and micro inventions which those all together effects the technical progress.There is huge difference between Mokyr, Joseph Needham and Lynn White on the technique they used and the information they provided. In his Science in Traditional China, Joseph Needham mainly focuses on the technological progress and social changes in China which took place for nearly 1500 years. It is not possible to understand from Needham's text why China could not develop a Western-style technological progress model, which Mokyr shows by describing the attitudes of guilds, the emergence patent system, the perception of societies' on value, the techniques (learning by doing, learning by using) used by the European's, the interaction among the countries and many more. The linear reasoning approach applied by the Lynn White is quite different than that of Mokyr's scientific approach. White's solutions to the technological progress phenomenon are basically an incremental technological change in tools and their effect on political and social system. White claims that the usage of stirrup, plough and reinforced armour led to a change in the political system. Despite it has valuable explanations, contrary to Mokyr, White's text does not give us any information on the guilds, the techniques employed for utilization of inventions, or the developments and their interactions in mining, shipping, and the change of the centre of gravity of technological progress.In the search to answer why Europe led other continents and why England led Europe until 1850, Mokyr examines different sectors (chemistry, mining, metallurgy, etc) one by one and shows how a technical change in one sector affects other sectors. It is obvious from his text that by switching among the sectors and time periods, Mokyr has both vertical and horizontal depth of knowledge on technological change and its agents.In order to understand the Industrial Revolution, the mutual progress made by the humanity shall be inspected, and Mokyr does this. Inventions made in China, medieval Islam and Europe are explained with their effects on society and productivity. But since the Industrial Revolution emerged in England, the text narrated by Mokyr mainly deals with the developments occurred in England and Europe.I think that there is no one-single root cause of the technological progress, but dozens of macro and micro causes that forms the shape, speed, and path of the progress. From The Lever of Riches, we see that, indeed, the technological progress phenomenon is not an easy one which can be explained by a single theory.It was enlightening for me to read how England led others by performing learning-by-doing and learning-by-using technique, a technique which eventually led England behind of Germany and United States due to England's resistance of changing her techniques with the new scientific methods which were mainly generated by the universities.Despite he has questions whether the progress or stagnation is the normal state of a society, I could not see the reason why Mokyr did not focused on the fact that the progress cannot be achieved without stagnation due to the need of consuming the products of the progress.One comment to the book may be that Mokyr seems to be inclined to see the negative sides of the craft guilds, and why he did not mentioned their contributions to the cumulative body of knowledge, which is explained in detail in Civilization and Capitalism, of Braudel.I am totally glad about having read this book, and I believe those who seek the answers for or interested in the technological progress phenomenon will find The Lever of Riches an indispensable source of reference.

Why were and are some societies so much more creative than others? Joel Mokyr, well known economic historian, tackles this important question. In his view, technological creativity has two components: invention (individual breakthroughs) and innovation (social and economic factors that lead to widespread adoption and improvement of technology).He then takes the reader on a breathtaking journey through classical antiquity, the middle ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and the late Nineteenth century. This section alone is worth the price of the book.We learn how while the ancients came up with many sophisticated technologies, it remains an open question as to why many technical solutions eluded them.We learn how medieval Europe (contrary to popular belief about the dark ages), saw many inventions that had eluded the ancients: water driven machines, the horse shoe, the stirrup, the horse collar. By 1200, medieval Europe had absorbed Oriental knowledge, and then surged ahead. By 1500, Europe "controlled more energy, machinery and organizational skill than any civilization, ancient or contemporary". The author does a splendid job in conveying the sense of excitement and creativity that swept Europe. What followed is justly described as "The Years of Miracles". The details of the creative process are beautifully illustrated. One example: "The basic idea for the construction of the atmospheric engine was based on the realization that the atmosphere exists".The next section tries to extract some "regularities" from the narrative. The author examines various hypotheses. This section is the most difficult part of the book and will need careful study. After careful analysis the author presents a biologically inspired hypothesis to answer the question raised in the first chapter. He is careful to point out aspects where the analogy to Biology does not apply. In the author's view, the proper analogy to the Biological concept of Species is technique itself. "Like evolution, technological progress was neither destiny nor fluke. Yet the power of Darwinian logic -- natural selection imposed on blind variation -- is that we need not choose between the two".In an epilogue, the author presents a few thoughts on the future -- albeit very hesitatingly and tentatively. One cannot but be impressed by his caution and humility.Does the author succeed in answering the central question? Alas, this reviewer is not learned enough to decide. Many parts of the book rang true given my own experience with technology. It will surely influence and inform my thinking.

This is a book I read over ten years ago possibly in a cursory manner but decided to reacquaint myself recently with considerable benefit, a happy rediscovery.Technological change has been a major force in history leading to increased economic output without an increase in labour or capital resources. The role of technological innovation was ignored by the Classical Economists who focused their attention instead on the supply side of capital investment and labour and the demand side of markets, population growth and goods costs. It was the Austrian Economist Schumpeter who wrote in the first half of the 20th C to emphasise the crucial role of technological progress in the Economy with the application of information to the production process to increase its efficiency or to produce better new products. This book is an extensively researched study on the history of technological change and its impact on economic growth in different eras and societies.The first half of the book is descriptive charting the main technical inventions from Antiquity until the end of 19th century, with clear descriptions of how they came about and their effects on material life. It is interesting to note that technological innovations were mostly independent of scientific research until well into the 19th Century. They were driven by a variety of cultural and economic factors but mostly by the endeavours of remarkable tinkerers and engineers with great abilities for empirical observation and design. Nevertheless without the financial encouragement of enlightened entrepreneurs a lot of these inventions may not have seen the light.The second half of the book is more analytical as it attempts to evaluate a number of explanations about technological progress. Why it took place in some societies and not others, why it petered out after promising beginnings, why it is often resisted. It discusses the comparative role and importance of various social, environmental and cultural factors in facilitating or hampering technological improvements: from population pressure and physical environment to religious inhibitions, scientific knowledge and state interventions. The author provides great insights into the historical progress of Chinese technology and the possible causes of its rapid decline. He brings interesting explanations for the genesis of the British Industrial Revolution in the 18th C. and its technological achievements and influence across the rest of Europe. As one of the explanations for the British case, he proposes the concept of “clustering of ideas” reaching a critical mass as it is generated by cross fertilisation of inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs within a supportive or at least a non hostile political environment. He also stresses the importance of legal patents in England as an encouraging factor for invention.The last part of the book is the most speculative with debatable conclusions as the Author borrows heuristic analogies from Evolutionary biology to explain the dynamics of technological change. Overall a classic of its genre, extremely well written, combining the history of technological changes in Economic history with fascinating conclusions.

This book is a fundamental work I have read until now about how technological advances can benefice our societies and how they can give free lunches to mankind (contrary to what traditional economists believe).

The book seems to be very complete regarding the last few centuries. The author probably lacks the knowledge of ancient languages (Greak, Latin, ..) and was therefor not able to read the primary sources of most literature as it was not published in English. But a least the intention was good and the work provides an overview as far as the secondary sources of the author were valid and as far as they were published in English (the last 150 years).

Pédagogique, passionnant et donnant à réfléchir. Central pour qui s'intéresse à l'histoire des idées et à l'économie de la connaissance.

Great book!