The industrial revolution: Fire and brimstone; why it started in Britain

I've just read most of "Kicking Away The Ladder" (2002, Ha-Joon Chang) and this work makes it clear that Henry VII started the whole textile business in the XVI century. He had lived in the Netherlands, saw the wealth that it created, and put in motion policies geared towards building an industry in Britain (restricting exports and hiring dutch craftsmen). His successors continued his work and in the XVIII century this industry accounted for half of Britain's export revenue.<p>This book is quite interesting; it argues that those economic policies that rich countries now sell to developing nations (through the Washington Consensus, for instance) were actually only put in place after they had become developed. These policies include IP rights, opening up of markets, less government intervention (that's laughable), etc.

Missing Spoiler Alert: should you be inclined to read the book (this is a book review, not a full-fledged article) rather than a trivial summary, do not read past the first paragraphs.<p>I am disinclined to agree with the assertion and certainly not to the exclusion of other factors - though I suspect and hope the article glosses over the relative importances thereof whereas the book may treat them a bit more sanely. It is an interesting hypothesis, nonetheless, and certainly makes me want to read the book for the full analysis.

&#62; his book, in the end, plumps for intellectual property as the biggest single spur<p>"A Farewell to Alms" goes into great detail that very few people involved in the industrial revolution got wealthy. It's a story of inventors and industrialists coming away with extremely modest financial gains, despite huge accomplishment, over and over. Greater fortunes were made in completely low tech and un-revolutionized businesses like pottery.<p>The idea that the industrial revolution was a matter of legal frameworks and financial motivations is not particular plausible in light of the financial facts. The people who drove the industrial revolution never much profited.<p>"A Farewell to Alms" argues the industrial revolution happened in Britain because to a degree unique to Britain, the most productive and responsible people had the most children for several generations. It is documented in great detail how this was the true. Through eugenic forces, the British worker and the British engineer had become driven enough to create the industrial revolution.