Anton Howes on Trade, Innovation, and the Forgotten History of Salt

Today my guest is Anton Howes head of innovation research at The Entrepreneurs Network, and the historian-in-residence at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is the author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation and the excellent Substack Age of Invention.  We talked about salt trade in India, the Dutch culture of innovation, the Royal Society of Arts, endogenous versus O-ring theories of growth, why the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain, and much more. 

Recorded November 11th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:29) - History of the Salt Trade and Salt Tax in India

(00:11:12) - Harvesting Salt in Bengal

(00:17:140 - The Great Hedge of India

(00:23:58) - The Rationale for Taxing Salt

(00:25:49) - The Western European Salt Trade and Land Control 

(00:34:22) - The Dutch Golden Age

(00:39:44) - Baltic Salt and New Forms of Sleeching

(00:45:51) - Maritime Trade

(00:48:24) - Why Did the Industrial Revolution Take Place in Britain and Not Elsewhere?

(01:03:14) - Solving the Problem of Debasement in Britain

(01:08:33) - The Path to the Royal Society of Arts

(01:16:39) - A Culture of Tinkerers and Improvers 

(01:20:49) - The Society of Arts’ Aims and Legacy

(01:31:15) - Theories of Progress

(01:40:20) - The Society of Arts and the Tool of Status

(01:47:43) - Outro