This paper uses the adoption and invention of the spinning jenny as a test case to understandwhy the industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century rather than inFrance or India. It is shown that wages were much higher relative to capital prices in Britainthan in other...

The paper reviews the macroeconomic data describing the British economy from 1760 to1913 and shows that it passed through a two stage evolution of inequality. In the first half ofthe nineteenth century, the real wage stagnated while output per worker expanded. The profitrate doubled and the...

The paper compares Feinstein’s and Clark’s consumer price and real wage indices for theBritish industrial revolution. The sources for their weights and component price series areevaluated. While some of Clark’s innovations are improvements, many of his changesdegrade the price index. A new...

The paper reviews the macroeconomic data describing the British economy during theindustrial revolution and shows that they contain a story of dramatically increasing inequalitybetween 1800 and 1840: GDP per worker rose 37%, real wages stagnated, and the profit ratedoubled. They share of profits...

This paper develops data on the history of wages and prices in Beijing, Canton, Suzhou/Shanghai in China from the eighteenth century to the twentieth and compare them with leading cities in Europe, Japan and India in terms of nominal wages, the cost of living, and the standard of living. In the...