Malthusian Constraints versus Market Incentives in Europe
Developments and its constraints in any given population largely depend on a number of factors. These factors include population growth, availability of technology, economic activities, and political atmosphere, among others. Most of these factors are what contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Europe and lead to improvement in the living standards of the Europeans. There are two important theories that explain the constraints in developments during the European Feudalism. They were proposed by Gregory Clark and George Grantham.
According to Gregory Clark, population growth was a key component in the unsustainability of the improvements in the living standards of the society. It is suggested by him that while technological advancements were crucial factors, they could not lead to a significant increase in material conditions (Clark 5), this was because ideally, advancement in technology meant increase in resources which later resulted to increase in population. This increase in population growth means an increased demand of resources such as food and the result is a return to the …show more content…
(Clark 2). This was, however, not until the establishments of the inclusive institutions that supplied incentives in England. This industrial revolution marked a bigger shift in the economic activities of the people, their living standards and social interactions. This is a major indication that the living standards of the Europeans improved regardless of the population growth and was ignited by the provision of the incentives. Therefore, Grantham’s argument on lack of market incentives during the European Feudalism was a constraint in development and not necessarily an increase in population with advanced technology. Productivity in the agricultural sector was held back by institutional inefficiencies. (Grantham 21). Grantham’s argument is, therefore, more
Developments and its constraints in any given population largely depend on a number of factors. These factors include population growth, availability of technology, economic activities, and political atmosphere, among others. Most of these factors are what contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Europe and lead to improvement in the living standards of the Europeans. There are two important theories that explain the constraints in developments during the European Feudalism. They were proposed by Gregory Clark and George Grantham.
According to Gregory Clark, population growth was a key component in the unsustainability of the improvements in the living standards of the society. It is suggested by him that while technological advancements were crucial factors, they could not lead to a significant increase in material conditions (Clark 5), this was because ideally, advancement in technology meant increase in resources which later resulted to increase in population. This increase in population growth means an increased demand of resources such as food and the result is a return to the …show more content…
(Clark 2). This was, however, not until the establishments of the inclusive institutions that supplied incentives in England. This industrial revolution marked a bigger shift in the economic activities of the people, their living standards and social interactions. This is a major indication that the living standards of the Europeans improved regardless of the population growth and was ignited by the provision of the incentives. Therefore, Grantham’s argument on lack of market incentives during the European Feudalism was a constraint in development and not necessarily an increase in population with advanced technology. Productivity in the agricultural sector was held back by institutional inefficiencies. (Grantham 21). Grantham’s argument is, therefore, more