The way fast technology runs ahead of our slow institutions is nothing new. This is arguably one of the key, inevitable consequences of innovation. In the nineteenth century, breakthroughs in industrial machinery catapulted the British economy into a position of global dominance. But there was a hitch. There was a 50-year period where British GDP expanded rapidly but workers’ wages remained the same – something the economic historian Robert Allen calls ‘Engels’ pause’. Those with capital to invest in new machinery did well initially, because it was technology that was driving the growth. It
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