Why Britain
1.[2p] What is the common signature of the machines invented in Britain in this period?
What is the common signature of the machines invented in Britain in this period?
The answer is: They saved labour and consumed large quantities of fuel
The answer is: They saved labour and consumed large quantities of fuel
The answer is: They saved labour and consumed large quantities of fuel
2.[2p] A machine costs £70 and replaces two spinners earning £10 a year each. What is the annual rate of return on buying it, in per cent?
A machine costs £70 and replaces two spinners earning £10 a year each. What is the annual rate of return on buying it, in per cent?
3.[2p] The same £70 machine replaces two spinners earning £2 a year each. What is the rate of return now, in per cent?
The same £70 machine replaces two spinners earning £2 a year each. What is the rate of return now, in per cent?
4.[3p] Match each explanation to the historian most associated with it.
Match each explanation to the historian most associated with it.
High wages and cheap coal
The Industrial Enlightenment
Credible commitment after 1688
Coal and ghost acreage
Joel Mokyr
Kenneth Pomeranz
Robert Allen
Douglass North
Show the answer
High wages and cheap coal: Robert Allen The Industrial Enlightenment: Joel Mokyr Credible commitment after 1688: Douglass North Coal and ghost acreage: Kenneth Pomeranz
5.[3p] Why is the Netherlands a useful test case?
Why is the Netherlands a useful test case?
The answer is: It had the institutions, wages and knowledge but not the cheap energy, and did not industrialise
The answer is: It had the institutions, wages and knowledge but not the cheap energy, and did not industrialise
The answer is: It had the institutions, wages and knowledge but not the cheap energy, and did not industrialise
6.[2p] North and Weingast point to the fall in the interest rate on British government debt as evidence that the 1688 settlement made the state a credible borrower.
North and Weingast point to the fall in the interest rate on British government debt as evidence that the 1688 settlement made the state a credible borrower.
The answer is: True
7.[3p] Which of these are given as difficulties for the institutional explanation?
Which of these are given as difficulties for the institutional explanation?
Select all that apply
The answer is: The institutional changes come decades before the machinery, The Dutch Republic had comparable protections earlier and did not industrialise, Patents cost around £100, so most invention happened outside the system
8.[2p] Pomeranz's phrase "ghost acreage" refers to what?
Pomeranz's phrase "ghost acreage" refers to what?
The answer is: Land overseas whose output Britain used without owning or farming it
The answer is: Land overseas whose output Britain used without owning or farming it
The answer is: Land overseas whose output Britain used without owning or farming it
9.[3p] What does the lesson conclude about how the four explanations fit together?
What does the lesson conclude about how the four explanations fit together?
The answer is: Institutions and knowledge are permissive conditions; prices explain the direction and timing
The answer is: Institutions and knowledge are permissive conditions; prices explain the direction and timing
The answer is: Institutions and knowledge are permissive conditions; prices explain the direction and timing