Why Rome Never Industrialized

Our take on how Joel Mokyr’s ideas would apply to the Roman Empire. If you’re interested in Mokyr’s work and want it straight from the source, check out his 2025 Nobel Prize Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/live/jQCkCcuSJ_U Or just search for some of his talks, there are a ton of them (and they are all good). Chapters: 00:00 Human Progress 01:45 Useful Knowledge 03:01 Belief in Progress 05:31 Incentives 07:51 Getting your Hands Dirty 10:06 Conclusion Credit: Mi Liu Footnotes: [1] The topics covered in this video are not the sole causes of the industrial revolution. There are a ton of other theories and which factors contributed to what degree is still hotly debated. Here are a few other commonly proposed causes: Stable institutions and property rights Geography and resources Wages and energy prices All of the above and more If you want to dig deeper into alternative theories, check out Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin’s book: How the World Became Rich: https://www.howtheworldbecamerich.com/ [2] I am heavily simplifying for the sake of brevity here. The fix took about 12 years and involved not only Watt but also cooperation with multiple professors at the university of Glasgow. Fun fact: James Watt was friends with Adam Smith who was a professor in Glasgow at the same time. Though I doubt he was much help with the steam engine. Big thanks to ‪@MarginalRevolutionUniversity‬, the MRU college fellowship team and Dan Hayes for their feedback and support!