A Culture of Growth Quotes

“Nations and their economies grow in large part because they increase their collective knowledge about nature and their environment, and because they are able to direct this knowledge toward productive ends. But such knowledge does not emerge as a matter of course. While most societies that ever existed were able to generate some technological progress, it typically consisted of one-off limited advances that had limited consequences, soon settled down, and the growth it generated fizzled out. In only one case did such an accumulation of knowledge become sustained and self-propelling to the point of becoming explosive and changing the material basis of human existence more thoroughly and more rapidly than anything before in the history of humans on this planet. That one instance occurred in Western Europe during and after the Industrial Revolution.”
― Joel Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy

“The drivers of technological progress and eventually economic performance were attitude and aptitude. The former set the willingness and energy with which people try to understand the natural world around them; the latter determines their success in turning such knowledge into higher productivity and living standards.4 In this book I will be concerned with attitudes.”
― Joel Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy

“Irreverence is a key to progress.”
― Joel Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy

“instilled”
― Joel Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy

“Not so much a trickle down as a dragging-along.”
― Joel Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy