ECON2951 - Autumn 2017

Questions and reading for seminar 3

Hi everyone!

As promised, just in time before the weekend, here is the questions we are going to discuss in the seminars next week. Come prepared, read the recommended readings and try to answer the questions yourself before the seminar.

1) Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in England and not in

a) Asia?

b) Spain or Italy?

c) The Netherlands?

2) List some inventions from the textile industry. What was their labor saving potential? Why do you think they were profitable to use (and invent) in England and maybe not elsewhere?

3) Compare some of the ideas of Adam Smith and Karl Marx and discuss their relevance for understanding the Industrial Revolution? Furthermore, did the so-called utopian socialists have anything important to say?