Davis Kedrosky
Economic historian writing on the Industrial Revolution, the Great Divergence and the origins of modern growth.
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What they believe
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The idea that early modern armies routinely broke enemy lines by combining artillery fire with cavalry charges was largely a myth.
Artillery-infantry-cavalry combinations didn't work as seamlessly and Roberts and Parker assumed-blowing holes in enemy lines with cannon and riding through with cavalry was as much a myth in 1614 as in 1914.
blog.daviskedrosky.comSaid 6 Sept 2023This on korrents
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Small parties of Spanish conquistadors were able to defeat much larger Native American armies primarily because of superior steel weapons and organizational capacity.
But military histories of the conquest support the assertion that the small parties of Spanish soldiers were able to defeat much larger Native armies thanks primarily to their superior steel weapons and organizational capacity, in line with Diamond's argument.
blog.daviskedrosky.comSaid 8 Jun 2023This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 16 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The idea that early modern armies routinely broke enemy lines by combining artillery fire with cavalry charges was largely a myth.
Artillery-infantry-cavalry combinations didn't work as seamlessly and Roberts and Parker assumed-blowing holes in enemy lines with cannon and riding through with cavalry was as much a myth in 1614 as in 1914.
Is there still life in the Military Revolution? Said 6 Sept 2023
The military revolution in early modern Europe was a centuries-long coevolution of military technology and political organization rather than one sharp discontinuity.
The 'military revolution' is better understood as encompassing the centuries-long co-evolution of military technology/tactics and political organization that resulted (under the duress of military competition) in the eighteenth-century fiscal-military state (rather than any one sharp discontinuity).
Is there still life in the Military Revolution? Said 6 Sept 2023
War was not the only driver of state growth in early modern Europe; political centralization and the rise of absolutism also strengthened military power.
War wasn't the only cause of state growth, and in turn politically-motivated centralization and the rise of absolutism also enhanced military prowess.
Is there still life in the Military Revolution? Said 6 Sept 2023
Show 13 more
Small parties of Spanish conquistadors were able to defeat much larger Native American armies primarily because of superior steel weapons and organizational capacity.
But military histories of the conquest support the assertion that the small parties of Spanish soldiers were able to defeat much larger Native armies thanks primarily to their superior steel weapons and organizational capacity, in line with Diamond's argument.
Jared Diamond: A Reply to His Critics Said 8 Jun 2023
Europe's fragmented geography — mountains, lakes, bays, and discrete agricultural cores — made its division into competing states likely, if not inevitable.
Recent economic history research suggests that Europe's geography (mountains, lakes, bays, and discrete agricultural cores) made fragmentation likely, if not inevitable.
Jared Diamond: A Reply to His Critics Said 8 Jun 2023
Slavery was not necessary for industrial capitalism to emerge in general, though it may explain why Britain specifically industrialized first.
Slavery was not essential for industrialization. Slavery may help to explain why Britain industrialized first.
From Slavery to Capitalism? Said 12 Oct 2022
Slavery was economically important to actually-existing capitalism in its early period, distinct from whether it was necessary for industrialization overall.
So slavery was important to really-existing capitalism in its infancy.
From Slavery to Capitalism? Said 12 Oct 2022
The key technologies of the Industrial Revolution came first and generated the profits that financed industrialists, rather than requiring a prior capital shock.
No, they didn't. The technology came first, generating high rates of return from which industrialists largely financed themselves.
From Slavery to Capitalism? Said 12 Oct 2022
Plantation slavery was profitable and fully compatible with capitalism, not opposed to it.
This series is not about the economics of plantation slavery, which was brutal, profitable, and fully compatible with capitalism.
Capitalism, Slavery, and the Industrial Revolution Said 26 Aug 2022
Capital accumulation was probably not what caused the British Industrial Revolution, given how cheap it was to set up even large factories.
capital accumulation probably did not cause British industrialization, given the modest set-up costs of even large factories.
Capitalism, Slavery, and the Industrial Revolution Said 26 Aug 2022
By 1600 silver wages in England were roughly three times those in China's Yangtze delta and five times those in India.
It turns out that in England silver wages were three times those in the Yangtze delta and five times those in India already by 1600.
Five Books Interview on the Great Divergence Said 19 Aug 2022
The Great Divergence was already underway by 1700, so colonial windfalls and British coal cannot be the whole explanation for European industrialization.
So the latest you can probably put the Great Divergence is 1700, which means that Pomeranz's story about it being all about colonial windfalls and British coal use is probably misguided.
Five Books Interview on the Great Divergence Said 19 Aug 2022
Political liberalism in early modern Europe helped make societies like the Netherlands and Britain especially inventive.
It's probably not a coincidence that two of the most liberal societies in Europe, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, were also particularly inventive.
Five Books Interview on the Great Divergence Said 19 Aug 2022
When an economic phenomenon is regionally concentrated, studying it at too fine a geographic scale risks analyzing it at the wrong level of aggregation.
Since industrialization was heavily regional, studying the IR in Britain at the scale of the parish might be looking at the wrong aggregation level.
The Gentry Strikes Back Said 2 Aug 2022
In persistence studies of a historical shock, the estimated effect tends to attenuate over time.
this is basically a persistence paper, so effects tend to attenuate over time
The Gentry Strikes Back Said 2 Aug 2022
A group only needs a marginal advantage over its rivals in management or business practice, not overwhelming superiority, to produce a meaningful long-run effect.
The gentry only have to be marginally better than other proprietors at land management and business practice to have some effect.
The Gentry Strikes Back Said 2 Aug 2022
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 8 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Loved The Great Divergence
His 2000 masterpiece The Great Divergence argues that the Americas, won and worked by force, provided the critical ghost acreages that propelled Britain past the Old World's common ecological constraints.
blog.daviskedrosky.com 12 Oct 2022
Recommends How the World Became Rich
and How the World Became Rich by Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin.
blog.daviskedrosky.com 19 Aug 2022
Recommends Guns, Germs, and Steel
Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel
blog.daviskedrosky.com 19 Aug 2022
Show 5 more
Recommends The Lever of Riches
Joel Mokyr’s The Lever of Riches
blog.daviskedrosky.com 19 Aug 2022
Recommends The European Miracle
I recommended Eric Jones’ The European Miracle
blog.daviskedrosky.com 19 Aug 2022
Loved The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective is the best book on the country’s adoption of sustained economic growth at the turn of the nineteenth century, full stop.
blog.daviskedrosky.com 16 May 2021
What others say about The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective →
Uses Feedly
I use Feedly to follow most of the usual economics blogs, as well as dozen or so journals
blog.daviskedrosky.com 7 Mar 2021
Loved A Bridge Too Far
A Bridge Too Far will remain the unchallenged classic on the subject. It was my favorite book until the age of twelve (at least).
blog.daviskedrosky.com 24 May 2020
Where they publish
Newsletter blog.daviskedrosky.com Great Transformations, his newsletter on economic history.
Link verified 4 Sept 2026.
x.com @dkedrosky His X account.
Recent
- Please hire my officemate! He plays classical music without headphones all the time, so it would be ideal if he didn't take a year 7. (also, his job market paper is really cool!) 6 Dec 2025
- It's hard to believe that it's just been one year! So many really fantastic articles in such a short time. 20 Feb 2025
- can i take this back 6 Nov 2024
Show 16 more
- quick reminder for everybody 5 Nov 2024
- Glad that the worst picture of me in existence doesn’t expire until 2027 18 Sept 2024
- And they said there was no field work in economic history 15 Sept 2024
- ... and that, you see, is why i had to play 1500 hours of Civ 5, take Swindon Town to the Champions League final, and conquer Calradia with my plucky band of Swadian knights 15 Aug 2024
- Missed this the first time through, but it's fun to see Oppenheimer thanked in the first paragraph of the acknowledgments to Lawrence Stone's *The Crisis of the Aristocracy*. 26 Dec 2023
- Celebrating the end of a… the quarter. 9 Dec 2023
- Briefly relaxing my Twitter embargo to suggest that you read @oliverwkim's JMP, on the economic consequences of the Household Responsibility System in China. It's a clever and counterintuitive example of how creative data work can help us answer important historical questions. 27 Nov 2023
- Why would eliminating ball playing and dogs make the park more fun? 12 Nov 2023
- Sounding the @delong tocsin 15 Oct 2023
- For anyone interested I have a surfeit of codes to B***S** that I’d be happy to hand out. I’m also dkedrosky Over There, incidentally. 22 Sept 2023
- A useful anecdote from Bloch on the dividing line between the contemporaneous and historical—I've heard (and used!) the school-teacher's line too many times without much justification. 14 Sept 2023
- Just another day at the office. 14 Sept 2023
- This is just a marvellously amusing paragraph 14 Sept 2023
- nothing new under the sun, 1958 edition 13 Sept 2023
- Tried to go for a short run this morning, but have subsequently discovered that I went in exactly the opposite direction than intended and was completely lost the entire time. 8 Sept 2023
- En route to Pittsburgh for #EHA2023. Send me a note if you’re there and want to say hi! 7 Sept 2023
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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