I think the role of geography on human history and current economic development is often misunderstood. Geography has been a powerful constraint for almost all of human history, but the technologies of the Industrial Revolution and the global free trade system since 1945 have greatly limited its impact on current rates of economic growth.
I think the role of geography on human history and current economic development is often misunderstood. Geography has been a powerful constraint for almost all of human history, but the technologies of the Industrial Revolution and the global free trade system since 1945 have greatly limited its impact on current rates of economic growth.
For example, if one compares a rank-order list of how prosperous a society is today with the same list for the year 1000, one can see a great deal of commonality. Societies in Europe and those that had recently been settled by Europeans, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia rank relatively high, while societies in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Siberia, New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific Islands rank relatively low.
The differences go back even further than the year 1000. In a fascinating article entitled Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?, William Easterly and other researchers find a strong correlation between levels of technology and per capita income today with levels in the years 1500, 1000, 0 and even 1000 BCE!
Geography is the most logical explanation for these differences that endure for 2000 years.
I have a numbers of articles on the topic that you and your readers might be interested in:
I think the role of geography on human history and current economic development is often misunderstood. Geography has been a powerful constraint for almost all of human history, but the technologies of the Industrial Revolution and the global free trade system since 1945 have greatly limited its impact on current rates of economic growth.
For example, if one compares a rank-order list of how prosperous a society is today with the same list for the year 1000, one can see a great deal of commonality. Societies in Europe and those that had recently been settled by Europeans, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia rank relatively high, while societies in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Siberia, New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific Islands rank relatively low.
The differences go back even further than the year 1000. In a fascinating article entitled Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 BC?, William Easterly and other researchers find a strong correlation between levels of technology and per capita income today with levels in the years 1500, 1000, 0 and even 1000 BCE!
Geography is the most logical explanation for these differences that endure for 2000 years.
I have a numbers of articles on the topic that you and your readers might be interested in:
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/t/geography
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/why-our-deep-history-explains-global
https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/why-are-there-such-huge-variations