“Ideas of human dignity and liberty did the trick, making the inventions and then investments profitable for entrepreneurs and the nation. As the economic historian Joel Mokyr puts it, “economic change in all periods depends, more than most economists think, on what people believe.”

“Ideas of human dignity and liberty did the trick, making the inventions and then investments profitable for entrepreneurs and the nation. As the economic historian Joel Mokyr puts it, “economic change in all periods depends, more than most economists think, on what people believe.”

— Deirdre N. McCloskey