I kind of agree with this, but only kind of. If you went back to say the 1600s and could build a working steam engine, whoever was in charge would quickly over

I kind of agree with this, but only kind of. If you went back to say the 1600s and could build a working steam engine, whoever was in charge would quickly over come the market factors. They had steel hundreds of years ago and there would be enough of an economic incentive to learn how to make more of it in a hurry Market forces work in both directions. If I have a chance to 10X my society's output, I'll do a lot to make it happen