On Mar 4, 2013, at 9:13 PM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
> So there was no growth between, say, ca. 2000 BC and the middle ages?
> They pace of growth might have accelerated with the industrial
> revolution, but there was certainly some growth before, even if slow.
> Medieval Europe certainly enjoyed material and technological advantage
> over the "barbarian" tribes during the Roman times.
>
> Besides, I do not want to quibble over the issue of growth, which is
> pretty academic. My main point is against the left-wing millenarism
> that the end is near because capitalism cannot sustain itself. It has
> been doing all right for the past 200+ years as far as I know, and
> there do not seem to be any serious threats on its horizon either.
Maddison too. "Growth," as we know it, whether measured in money or in disruptive technological change, is almost entirely post-1700.