Abstract
AbstractPatrick O’Brien has dedicated most of his career to studying British economic history, focusing on the Industrial Revolution, its antecedents, characteristics and consequences. He has always paid attention to long-term developments and never confined himself to strictly economic aspects. From the late 1990s onward, he increasingly turned ‘global’. His importance for global history cannot be overstated. His essay in this issue presents the outcome of his long intellectual journey. I will in this rejoinder try to assess his approach and his findings and comment on Patrick as a scholar and as a person. As we are close friends I will be critical.
Highlights
Against the wind In my experience trying to determine what a person rejects, is always an effective strategy to find out what he or she is up to
Patrick is clearly against specific Whig interpretations of British economic history which maintain that industrialization occurred first in Britain because it had a distinctive set of institutions, first and foremost its ‘representative’ state and its market economy
Such views have long been influential through the work of Douglass North, Robert Thomas and Barry Weingast, who emphasized the importance of secure and well-described property rights that they claimed were established with the Glorious Revolution of 1688.1 It has recently been restated in an adapted form by Daron Acemoğlu and James Robinson, who focus on the assumed inclusiveness of Britain’s political and economic institutions
Summary
Against the wind In my experience trying to determine what a person rejects, is always an effective strategy to find out what he or she is up to. Abstract Patrick O’Brien has dedicated most of his career to studying British economic history, focusing on the Industrial Revolution, its antecedents, characteristics and consequences.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
