Sustained economic growth in England can be traced back to the early seventeenth century. That earlier growth, albeit modest, both generated and was sustained by a demographic regime that entailed relatively high wages, and by an increasing endowment of human capital in the form of a relatively...

Did the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars contribute to the Industrial Revolution? Recent scholarship argues warfare was an important factor in explaining Britain's industrialisation, by encouraging the invention and diffusion of key technologies with military applications. I re-examine...

PART 1: 1774-1800 -- Chapter 1. The Extent of Steam Power Diffusion in Britain, 1774-1800: A Revision -- Chapter 2. Engineering Skills and the Efficiency of Steam Engines During Watt’s Patent -- Chapter 3. The Annual Cost of Watt vs. Newcomen Engines During the Duration of Watt’s Patent and...