Anton Howes on Trade, Innovation, and the Forgotten History of Salt
Description
Today my guest is Anton Howes head of innovation research at The Entrepreneurs Network, and the historian-in-residence at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is the author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation and the excellent Substack Age of Invention. We talked about salt trade in India, the Dutch culture of innovation, the Royal Society of Arts, endogenous versus O-ring theories of growth, why the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain, and much more.
Recorded November 11th, 2024.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
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Timestamps
(00:00:00 ) - Intro
(00:01:29 ) - History of the Salt Trade and Salt Tax in India
(00:11:12 ) - Harvesting Salt in Bengal
(00:17:14 0 - The Great Hedge of India
(00:23:58 ) - The Rationale for Taxing Salt
(00:25:49 ) - The Western European Salt Trade and Land Control
(00:34:22 ) - The Dutch Golden Age
(00:39:44 ) - Baltic Salt and New Forms of Sleeching
(00:45:51 ) - Maritime Trade
(00:48:24 ) - Why Did the Industrial Revolution Take Place in Britain and Not Elsewhere?
(01:03:14 ) - Solving the Problem of Debasement in Britain
(01:08:33 ) - The Path to the Royal Society of Arts
(01:16:39 ) - A Culture of Tinkerers and Improvers
(01:20:49 ) - The Society of Arts’ Aims and Legacy
(01:31:15 ) - Theories of Progress
(01:40:20 ) - The Society of Arts and the Tool of Status
(01:47:43 ) - Outro
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