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In the case of the US you could throw in centuries of free slave labor.
by Edmond 13y ago
In the case of the US you could throw in centuries of free slave labor.
- VLM 13y agoThat would imply that immediately before the civil war the south was a boomtown and the slaveless north was a rustbelt.
- DoctorZeus 13y agoNot necessarily. Slavery might have indirectly assisted the north's industrialization in at least a couple ways. (1) Accumulation of financial capital in the hands of an investment class (2) Cheap cotton gave northern factories a competitive advantage.
- VLM 13y agoThat is a good point although there should also be a way to compare and contrast with other countries that didn't have slavery as an "advantage". Then you could try to back-apply the model to other countries, like if the English outright owned the Irish then economic growth would have increased ... or would it have?
- DoctorZeus 13y agoGood question. It would take some serious time studying history to have even a decent guess.